'Ankit Threatened to Upload Rape Video If I Spoke of It,' Alleges Survivor

Highlights

• The woman who has alleged that singer Ankit Tiwari, known for Sun Raha Hai Na Tu from Aashiqui 2, raped her has finally broken her silence about the case. Speaking to mid-day, the 28-year-old said many of the claims made by the lawyers of the accused were false.
• “Contrary to what is being reported, I met Ankit about a year ago at a Durga Puja event in October 2012. His lawyer’s claim that I married him two years ago is false,” said the event management professional. She also dismissed that she tried to extort Rs 3 crore from him, saying, “I met Ankit when he was a struggler.
• “I bought him a phone, paid his mobile bills. When you have not even earned Rs 1 crore, how can you allege I asked for three? I’m a VP of a company and I don’t need the money.” She continued that Ankit had proposed to her after four to five meetings. “I remember he proposed to me at a coffee shop in Lokhandwala.”
• “I told him it wouldn’t work out as I was a divorcee and had a daughter. Yet, he told me he would convince his family,” she said, rebuffing the singer’s claims that he didn’t know of her previous marriage and that she had witnesses to back her up.
• She said Ankit did introduce her to his mother, but as a friend, because he “wanted to take it slow”. “He told me: once I become a celebrity, my parents will have to accept you, because tab meri chalegi. I thought he knew his family better and kept quiet,” she added.
• Recounting how Ankit allegedly raped her, the woman said it was on July 21, her sister’s birthday. “I had invited him for the party; he came around 11.30 pm.
• He convinced me to have a drink and took me to another room. He made me drink further, kept his hand on my mouth, and had sex with me. My sister even saw him come out of the room,” she recalled.
• On learning about it the next day, the woman’s sister called up the singer, and he promised he would marry her. But when the survivor spoke to Ankit, he allegedly blackmailed her by saying, “Stop discussing the incident as I have recorded the entire thing. If you talk about it, I will upload it on social media.” Fearing humiliation, the woman says she kept quiet and continued the relationship. She added that Ankit kept on claiming he would marry her, but every time he wanted to have sex he would bring up the video clip.
• Tired of the situation, the woman said she turned up at the musician’s place and spoke to his parents. She alleged that his manager-brother Ankur slapped her and pushed her out of the house.
• The singer apologised the next day and the woman continued her relationship. But when Ankur got wind of it, he allegedly threatened her with a knife, ordering her to “get out of her brother’s life or he would do a repeat of the Dheeraj Solitaire incident” referring to the infamous building where television executive Neeraj Grover was murdered, and his body chopped into pieces.
• She claims Ankit’s behaviour changed after he won many awards. He would fight with her, accuse her of trying to “ruin his life” and eventually calm down and tell her he would convince his parents to let him marry her. The woman went to Kanpur in February, after hearing Ankit was getting engaged.
• She claims she had completed all legal formalities for marrying Ankit, along with getting his signatures, and that only submission of documents was left. “But he told me he was getting married to someone else, and that he would continue our relationship anyway.”
• When she met Ankur and some of his family members, an argument started, and Ankit allegedly slapped her. She then came back and filed an FIR with the Versova police in February. Police, after investigations, arrested Ankit under sections 376 (rape), 493 (cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage), 417 (cheating) and 506 (2) on May 8.
• His brother, Ankur, too, was booked for intimidation. While Ankit has been remanded to judicial custody till May 26, Ankur was released on bail the same day, which makes the survivor feel unsafe. “I fear for my life and my daughter’s. I will ask for police protection,” she concluded.