Moga man held for raping 30-yr-old woman on pretext of marriage

The Sadar Jagraon police on Friday arrested a resident of Moga for raping a 30-year-old woman on pretext of marriage and duping her of ₹22 lakh.

The police have also booked the accused’s parents and his cousin brother in the case. The accused has been identified as Navdeep Singh alias Navi, of Khosa Pando village in Moga. His father Karnail Singh and mother Paramjit Kaur and cousin Malkit Singh are yet to be arrested.

In her police complaint, the 30-year-old woman said that she met the accused in 2014, and later they became good friends. She said the accused had established physical relations with her on pretext of marriage. She had met Navdeep’s parents who promised to get them married in a few years.

She added that Navdeep had borrowed ₹22 lakh (in instalments) from her to set up his business and promised to return the amount within a few months. She added that her parents had transferred ₹22 lakh in her account after selling their ancestral land.

Later, Navdeep refused to marry her and failed to return the borrowed amount. She alleged that the accused threatened her of dire consequences if she approached the police.

On October 23, 2019, the woman lodged a complaint with the police, who initiated an inquiry in the matter. On Friday, a case under Sections 376 (rape), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at Sadar Jagraon police station, said ASI Gurdeep Singh, the investigating officer in the case.

A hunt is on to nab the accused’s parents, he added.