Mumbai Police has registered an FIR against Shiv Sena's new Thane district chief Kedar Dighe and his friend Rohit Kapoor for alleged criminal intimidation and rape.
The N M Joshi Marg police in Mumbai registered a case under section 506 of the Indian Penal Code (criminal intimidation) against Kedar Dighe. A case was also filed under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code against Kapoor, who police said is a friend of Kedar Dighe.
Kedar Dighe is nephew of the Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe who died in August 2001.
On July 31, Kedar Dighe was appointed by Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray as the new Thane district chief of the party.
"An FIR has been registered against Thane Shiv Sena president Kedar Dighe, who is also the nephew of late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe, and his friend Rohit Kapoor. Rohit allegedly raped the victim and Kedar Dighe allegedly threatened the rape victim," Mumbai Police said.
The Thane Shiv Sena president had allegedly called the rape survivor and threatened her with dire consequences if she approached the authorities against Kapoor.
The police said that Kapoor and Dighe were booked under Section 376 (Rape) and 506 (Criminal intimidation) of the IPC. The complainant was threatened in order to ensure she did not file a case.
The 23-year-old complainant works with a top hotel in Mumbai and the rape is alleged to have been committed when Kapoor was staying at the hotel.
The case was filed on Monday August 1. The Mumbai Police has started their investigation into the case.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)