False rape accusations: A new menace

False rape accusations seem to have become a popular extortion tactic. The Uttar Pradesh Police recently busted such a racket at Noida in which some local cops were also involved. In Gurgaon, a few days earlier, two women, who reportedly ran an escort service, were caught allegedly trying to blackmail three men. Then there is the famous Karan Oberoi case that gets murkier by the day.

After the extortion fraud was exposed at Noida, a 50-year-old resident of Sector 31 registered a case in which he narrated his ordeal at the hands of the same culprits, who included a local sub-inspector. The victim was made by pay Rs 5 lakh, failing which he was threatened with a rape charge.

The victim reportedly helped people to get their PAN cards issued, and that is what was used by the accused to trap him. A woman, Vineeta Agarwal, approached him on April 12 ostensibly for the same purpose, then picked up a fight with him, and filed a rape case against him. Sub-inspector Sunil Sharma took him to the police station. A demand was made of Rs 10 lakh, but the deal was settled at Rs 5 lakh.

Imagine getting charged with rape for just having interacted with a woman for getting a PAN card made! While the Gurgaon case did involve an escort service—and any man availing such a service is at least aware of and cautious about the people involved in such vocations—the last thing one can expect getting somebody’s PAN card made is an allegation of sexual violation.

In Mumbai, a 34-year-old woman accused TV actor Karan Oberoi of rape and extortion. She later also alleged that two people riding a sports bike later attacked her. The police later informed the media that attack was fake, masterminded by her lawyer Ali Kaashif Khan.

It is heartening to notice some women, including former actress Pooja Bedi, one of Oberoi’s friends, have come out in his favor. She told a news agency: “Taking the history of our country in consideration and the patriarchal society that we are living in, there is a situation where a rape victim goes to the police station and her complaint does not get registered, which is wrong. So we need laws against rape and such violence; but at the same time, if a large number of women are misusing the law or if they are not respecting the law that is meant to protect them and rather taking advantage of it, we need to think about how to protect the right of a man as well!”

She has a point: when false rape cases are filed, and crooked women benefit, the victims are not just the men accused but also the women who actually suffer at the hands of sexual predators.

It is time other women too joined hands and spoke against villainesses like Vineeta Agarwal.