MUMBAI: Three men and two women have been charged in a human trafficking case in which an 18-year-old woman was allegedly raped four months before she escaped from her kidnappers and contacted the police.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered by Kurar police in Malad (East), the survivor, who lives in Malad, had been promised a job in one of India’s largest television and film production companies by his acquaintance Sunita Rankhambe. family. This seemed like a good opportunity since his brother was the sole breadwinner in the family and they desperately needed the money.

According to the FIR, Rankhambe arrived at the woman’s house on June 2 and promised to take up an acting role in the entertainment company. Rankhambe also said his family will also receive help. ₹$20,000 each month while on outdoor shooting schedules. The woman’s mother did not suspect anything was wrong and agreed.

According to the FIR, Rankhambe took the woman to Titwala and there introduced her to her daughter Sonal Waghmare and son-in-law Vikas Waghmare. On June 3, while the four of them were having tea at a restaurant, the woman was introduced to a man named Sameer. So he introduced her to Amir. The FIR alleged that the latter spiked the drink he offered her with drugs and she fainted.

The next day, the woman found Amir with him and told Sameer that something was wrong. Instead, Sameer showed her a video of herself being raped. Desperate, he returned to Rankhambe, only to realize that he too had been part of the plan to blackmail him with the video; They threatened to publish it on the internet if the woman did not do as they told her.

The woman was forced to live in Rankhambe’s house and in July Sameer took her to Goa, ostensibly to audition for a role in Goa. Once there, he drugged her drink and raped her multiple times. This happened again in August. According to the FIR, on September 30, the woman called her brother and asked him to pick her up, but Sameer did not allow it.

On October 5, the woman escaped from Rankhambe’s home and returned to her family in Malad. She later approached the police and accused Sunita Rankhambe, her daughter and son-in-law Sameer and Amir of human trafficking, rape and common intention. The charges were registered under Articles 143(2), 64 (2)(d) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita. “The accused are absconding and we are looking for them,” said an officer from Kurar police.

However, the survivor said the police did not make any attempt to arrest the accused. “We are running to a pole, but the police are ignoring the incident,” the woman said.