A local Samajwadi Party (SP) leader has been booked for allegedly raping an 18-year-old woman several times and threatening to kill her, in Uttar Pradesh's Mau district, police said on Sunday.
Anil Kumar Singh, SHO of Kotwali Nagar police station in Mau, said the accused Virendra Pal, who is also an advocate, raped the woman for almost a year. He is absconding and efforts are on to nab him.
The complainant alleged that she used to assist Pal in his legal work.
The woman claimed that Pal lured her into his car at a deserted location where he gave her cold drink laced with sedatives and then forcibly raped her, the SHO said.
He allegedly filmed the assault and used the video to blackmail her, continuing to exploit her physically and extorting Rs 4 lakh, he added.
The complainant also alleged that the accused last met her on July 16 and 17 at a hotel, where he again raped her. On September 6, when she confronted him to retrieve her vehicle, he thrashed her, abused her, and threatened to kill her, the officer said.
Based on the woman's complaint, an FIR was lodged on Saturday against Pal under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including sections 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351 (2) (criminal intimidation), 352 (intentional insult with the intent to provoke breach of peace), 123 (causing hurt by means of poison to commit an offence), and 64(2) (m) (punishment for rape).
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