In a shocking case, a Pune man allegedly raped a 34-year-old woman at knife-point in front of her husband who had defaulted on a small personal loan, filmed the incident, and posted the video on social media where it went vital, police said here on Wednesday.
The incident happened in February this year in Hadapsar when the accused, Imtiaz H. Shaikh, 47, had reportedly given a friendly (interest-free) loan of Rs 40,000 to the victim’s husband.
However, the couple was unable to return the loan amount after which Shaikh started abusing and threatening them.
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In February, he summoned them to an isolated spot in the Hadapsar government colony and again demanded the outstanding money from them, but they had no money to repay them. Thereafter, Shaikh allegedly whipped out a knife, threatened to kill the husband, then raped the woman right there, and also made a MMS of the incident on his phone.
The accused again later repeatedly demanded sexual favours from the woman, and when she refused, he posted the video clip on social media sites.
Finally mustering courage, the victim approached the Hadapsar Police Station and registered a complaint on Tuesday, said Police Inspector Ravindra Shelake.
"We tracked down the accused and arrested him yesterday… He was produced before the court which has given him a two-day remand till tomorrow (Thursday) and further investigations are on,” Shelake told IANS.
Police are also trying to ascertain if the accused had trapped any other victims and exploited them in a similar manner, even as the incident sent shockwaves in the city.