Woman Alleges Cop Stripped, Raped Her For 'Not Wearing A Mask;' Suspect Arrested

A police officer has been arrested for allegedly stripping and raping a 33-year-old married woman for "not wearing a mask."

The woman, who approached authorities against the officer, claimed the incident happened a year ago in the Indian city of Surat during the first COVID-induced lockdown, reported Times Now News.

Following her complaint, the accused, Naresh Kapadiya, was arrested Tuesday.

In her complaint, the woman claimed she was out to buy milk during a lockdown period last year when Kapadiya approached her for "not wearing a mask." Threatening her with action for not abiding by the COVID rules, the officer asked the woman to get in his car. Instead of taking her to the police station, Kapadiya allegedly took the woman to an isolated spot nearby and assaulted her.

She alleged that Kapadiya beat her up and stripped her. He then clicked her pictures, before raping her. The woman said the officer used those pictures to blackmail her, leading to her rape multiple times over the next few months.

However, the case took a surprising turn after Kapadiya was arrested. The wife of the accused, Parvathi approached police against the woman and her husband, for barging into her home and verbally abusing them, hurling "casteist remarks" at them. Following this, charges were filed against the rape victim and her husband under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Meanwhile, The Times Of India quoted another police officer who claimed that the rape victim and the accused were having an affair, which ended recently.

"It seems the accused cop and the woman had an affair with each other. Following disputes, they lodged complaints against each other,” the news outlet quoted an unnamed officer, as saying.

A video of the rape victim and rape accused fighting with each other had gone viral in January, following which Kapadiya was transferred to another station.

In a similar incident, another police officer was arrested a few days ago after a woman officer filed a case against him for raping her. The incident happened when the duo was posted in the Indian state of Odisha for cyclone duty. Reports said the distressed woman attempted suicide but was rescued. It was then that she opened up about being raped.