Rajkot woman alleges gang rape by four

AHMEDABAD: A 23-year-old woman from Rajkot on Wednesday filed a complaint of gang rape against four men, alleging that she was raped by them multiple times at various places in the city and Udaipur between September 11 and October 23 this year. She alleged that she had lost her job due to the Covid-19 pandemic and came in touch with the accused as she was promised a job in the corporate world here.
In the FIR filed at the women’s police station (west), the woman accused builder Pragnesh Patel alias Pragnesh Gota, a resident of Sola, Jitendragiri Goswami, a resident of Vasna, Maldev Bharwad, a resident of Isanpur and Jaymin Patel, a resident of Bopal, of raping her repeatedly. She alleged that Pragnesh’ wife Neelam confiscated her passport and threatened her.
The complainant said Bharwad contacted her in August after he got her number through a common friend and promised to get her a lucrative job in the corporate world. Bharwad then introduced her to Pragnesh and Goswami, who promised her job involving event management work for their companies.
On such work, they took her to a hotel in Udaipur on September 11. She alleged that Pragnesh and Goswami, who had also put up in a five star hotel in Udaipur, allegedly gave her a cold drink spiked with sedatives which made her fall unconscious.
“The next morning, I found myself and the accused naked. I also felt pain in my lower abdomen. When I confronted the accused, they apologised and promised it would never happen again,” the woman stated.
However, the accused allegedly took compromising pictures and videos of her in the Udaipur hotel and used it to blackmail her and expoit her further.
She has alleged that Pragnesh’ other aides — Bharwad and Jaymin Patel — also allegedly raped her at various hotels and flats in Ahmedabad. She alleged Pragnesh once took her to a resort in Mandvi, where he and his aides raped her after using the drug ‘MD’.
She also alleged that she was raped by Pragnesh and Bharwad in a moving SUV when they were travelling from Kutch to Ahmedabad. She said she she fled to her friend’s place in Adipur when the accused were getting fuel for their car.
She said that she was later threatened by Neelam, who also took away her passport.
Further investigation has been transferred to crime branch.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)