Telangana Man Accused Of Rape Held At Hyderabad Airport Before Fleeing To Australia

A 29-year-old man from Telangana, who is accused of raping a 27-year-old woman from Chhattisgarh, was arrested on Monday night at the international airport here when he was about to escape to Australia by a flight via Sri Lanka, police said on Tuesday.

The victim had accused the man, who hails from Jangaon district in Telangana, of raping her at a hotel here in the first week of July after promising to marry her, police said, based on a complaint that she filed with Vidhansabha Police Station in Raipur.

The woman said that the accused subsequently avoided taking her calls, following which she lodged a complaint. Based on the complaint, a Zero FIR (filed under any station, regardless of jurisdiction) was registered at Vidhansabha Police Station in Raipur, police said.

After receiving the case file of the Zero FIR from Raipur police, the Mahankali Police here re-registered a case under Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on July 28, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Zone) S Rashmi Perumal said.

On receipt of technical inputs and credible information that the accused had reached RGI Airport in Shamshabad here and was about to escape to Australia, the police in coordination with the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office (FRRO), RGI Airport police, and Immigration and CISF officials took swift action and were successful in apprehending the accused who was waiting to board the flight, police said.

Another police official said the victim and the man had met online on a social media platform about four months ago and developed a friendship.

The accused went to Australia eight months ago and worked in a poultry farm in Melbourne, the official said, adding that he came to India last month and called the woman to Hyderabad from Raipur on the promise of marriage and in the guise of getting her to meet his parents.

They stayed in a hotel, which falls under Mahankali Police Station limits here, from July 3 to July 5, where the accused allegedly raped her, police said based on the woman’s complaint.