Man Accused Of Raping Mumbai Woman He Met Online Granted Pre-Arrest Bail

A court in Mumbai on Friday granted anticipatory bail to a man booked for allegedly raping a 21-year-old woman he met on social media.

As per the complainant, accused Heetik Shah, a resident of Malabar Hill in south Mumbai, had met her on social media, after which she met him in person on January 13 and visited some eateries and pubs.

As per the woman, Heetik Shah took her to his friend's flat in Worli when she was in an inebriated state and raped her.

In his pre-arrest bail plea, Heetik Shah claimed he was falsely implicated in the case and alleged the woman's complaint was the "consequence of a vindictive afterthought".

The allegations levelled appear to be "motivated by mala fide intent" on part of the woman, his plea filed through advocates Abad Ponda and Subash Jadhav said.

In the plea, Heetik Shah claimed the woman began the sexual advances and not him, adding that whatever happened between the two was fully consensual.

The complaint has been filed with the intent to tarnish the image of his family and extort money, Heetik Shah's plea added.

The woman had also filed an intervention application claiming the accused was habitual and had targeted many other girls who are scared to come out and complain.

The police, in their report, opposed the plea claiming there is a possibility that Shah can pressure the complainant, defame her, adding there can also be a threat to her life.

The additional sessions judge, after hearing all the parties, granted anticipatory bail to Heetik Shah. The detailed order, however, was not available yet.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)