HC lawyer held for rape and blackmail of intern

NEW DELHI: An advocate of the Delhi high court was arrested after a law intern alleged that she had been raped by him on several occasions.
The 42-year-old accused lawyer, a resident of Faridabad, was sent to police remand after being produced before a magistrate. He has been taken to Ahmedabad for collection of evidence, said DCP (New Delhi district) Madhur Verma.
The woman had filed a complaint at Tilak Marg police station on July 9, following which a team led by SHO Naresh Kumar was formed to investigate the case.The team arrested him from one of his chambers on Tuesday afternoon.
In a statement to TOI, the Delhi High Court Bar Association (HCBA) condemned the incident. HCBA secretary Amit Sharma, however, clarified that the accused was not enlisted with the association and not its member, nor was he given a chamber by HCBA.
In her complaint, the woman said that she was interning with another advocate in 2016, as part of her college programme module. During this time she was introduced to the accused. The accused often called her to to his office and gave her work, she said. Problems started when she returned for a second internship after a few months. Then, he allegedly lured her into working with him.
The woman told police that the accused first molested her in his chamber and later apologised. He also claimed that he would give her a stipend of Rs 10,000. On July 15, 2016 he asked her to accompany him to Ahmedabad for an important meeting.
“The accused had allegedly booked one room and convinced her to stay with him. In the early hours, the accused forced himself on her. When she objected, he claimed that he had filmed the act and threatened to release the video if she told anyone about it,” said a senior police officer quoting her statement.
The woman alleged that he even told her that earlier too he had raped an air-hostess and filmed the act. He boasted that nothing happened to him in that case. Later, the accused allegedly assaulted her few more times.
The police have checked the veracity of this claim and found that an FIR of rape had been filed against him in 2007, but he was acquitted in that case due to lack of evidence.