Woman arrested for demanding ₹1 crore hush money to withdraw ‘rape case’

A woman was arrested for allegedly extorting ₹1 crore from a married IT professional after filing a false rape complaint against him.

MUMBAI: In a case involving betrayal, digital snooping and an alleged extortion attempt, the Charkop police on Wednesday arrested a woman who had earlier accused a married IT professional of rape — only to later demand a hefty sum of ₹1 crore to withdraw her complaint.

The woman was arrested and produced before a magistrate. She has been remanded to police custody for eight days.(Representational)

Police say the 40-year-old complainant, an IT employee living with his wife and son in Kandivali West, was allegedly in a long-term physical relationship with the woman, a former private bank employee he first met in 2012. By 2017, their meetings had become frequent. Despite knowing he was married, the relationship reportedly continued until it soured in 2022 when she asked him to marry her. He refused as he had never promised marriage, the man told police.

In 2023, the woman filed a rape case against him at the Borivali police station. He was arrested and spent a month in jail. Under the law in India, rape accusations can lead to arrest even before the charges are proven in court — and despite the possibility of the case being false.

Soon after the arrest, the woman and her brother allegedly reached out to the complainant’s sister, offering to help secure his bail — but for a price. They reportedly demanded money in exchange for providing a no objection certificate (NOC) to aid his release.

After he was granted bail, the woman approached him again. This time, she played the sympathy card, claiming she had acted out of anger and was now willing to withdraw the complaint. She said she needed to speak with her lawyers to begin the process. On February 1, 2024, the man met her lawyer in Fort. The woman allegedly demanded ₹1 crore to take back the rape complaint. When the man refused, she dropped the demand to ₹50 lakh. He still declined. The case took a darker turn in May.

On May 10, 2024, she met the complainant again — and dropped a bombshell. She told him she knew everything about his finances: how much money he had, where it was spent, and even where his wife had invested. Alarmed, the man dug deeper and made a disturbing discovery: both of the woman’s phone numbers were linked to his Google account.

Through this unauthorised access, police say, she had been tracking his bank account details, OTPs, and possibly even passwords. She wasn’t working alone. A bank employee from a different private bank — where the man held his account — was allegedly helping her gain access to confidential financial information.

On January 3, 2025, the Charkop police registered an FIR against four people — the woman, her brother, her friend, and the bank employee — under several sections, including 308(7) (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code and 72A (punishment for disclosure of information in breach of lawful contract), 66(a) (sending offensive messages), 66(d) (cheating by personation using computer resource), 66(e) (violation of privacy) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

On Wednesday, the woman was arrested and produced before a magistrate. She has been remanded to police custody for eight days.