Youth Congress leader arrested on charges of raping friend's wife
May 21, 2010, Bangalore
A few weeks after the sex scandal involving Food and Civil Supplies Minister
Hartalu Halappa broke out, the Karwar police arrested Taluk Youth Congress
President Pratap Singh on charges of raping a friend's wife. (Picture (on the
left) shows a still from the video that allegedly shows Pratap Singh with the
victim)
The Congress leader had allegedly gone underground after the victim lodged a
complaint.
"Singh was tracked down by a police team near Belgaum where he was hiding. He
was brought to Karwar and remanded to judicial custody," said Superintendent of
Police Raman Gupta.
Singh, a friend of the victim, whose husband is reportedly employed in the
Middle East, promised to help him supervise the construction of his house, as
there were no male members in the family who could help.
During one of the many trips to his friend's house, Singh allegedly drugged the
victim and raped her. He recorded the entire act and shared the footage with his
friends and allegedly asked them to burn in on a CD.
The footage was leaked and soon the entire town had access to the footage.
Though the rape occurred a few months ago, it was after the elders in the
victim's family saw the footage that they asked the victim to lodge a complaint.
"We received the complaint on Monday and began looking for Singh," Gupta said,
adding that the police are investigating the case to ascertain the facts.
Though the victim has maintained that she was drugged and exploited sexually,
locals who saw the video footage said that sex appeared consensual.
"She has ruined her life. Her marriage is in danger as the incident has been
conveyed to her husband abroad," said a person who lives in the victim's
neighbourhood.
http://www.ndtv.com/news/cities/youth-congress-leader-arrested-on-charges-of-raping-friends-wife-26891.php