Congress ward president arrested for raping 19-year-old

A Congress ward president from Ghatkopar has been arrested by the Pant Nagar police for allegedly raping a teenager. According to the police,the 19-year-old girl,a resident of Kanraj Nagar in Ghatkopar,had given a written complaint to the Mumbai Police Commissioner accusing Pralayad Lokhande of forcibly marrying,raping,and blackmailing her with an obscene video that he had shot.

The police officers investigating the case said the girl in her complaint had stated that Lokhande,who is already married,had kidnapped her on the pretext of making her a witness in one of the cases he was involved in. “Lokhande has many criminal complaints registered against him at the Pant Nagar police station,” said Assistant Police Inspector S Kasar from the Pant Nagar police station.

Kasar added Lokhande had kidnapped the girl,a student of Somaiya College,and took her to a temple where he forcibly married her. “He then,over a period of two months,took the girl to a lodge in Thane where he raped her and also shot a video.” Lokhande then blackmailed her. Last week when the girl learnt about the video being circulated,she gave a written complaint to the Mumbai Police Commissioner.

The police have arrested Lokhande for rape,circulating the obscene video and kidnapping.