Out on bail man rapes same woman as friend makes video

Bhopal, Aug 03: A man, who was released on bail following his arrest in a 2020 rape case, allegedly raped the same woman while holding a knife to her in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district. He threatened her to withdraw the complaint she had filed against him earlier, the police said, according to news agency PTI.

The woman complained that the incident, involving the accused and his friend, happened around a month ago, the police said.

The woman, who is now 19 years old, had been raped by the same accused two years ago when she was a minor, an official said.

"According to the complainant, accused Vivek Patel, who had raped her earlier, committed the same crime along with his friend," the police station in-charge Asif Iqbal said.

The accused was arrested in 2020 for raping the minor. However, he was released on bail almost a year after that in 2021, he said.

"In her complaint, the woman told the police that the accused raped her at knife point with his friend about a month ago by forcibly entering her house. The accused and his friend made a video of the act and then threatened to make the clip viral on social media if the previous complaint she had filed is not withdrawn," Mr Iqbal said.

A case of gang-rape was registered on Monday and the police have launched a search operation to arrest both the accused, he said.