Young woman trapped in rape stigma after mistaken identity bends minds in Hyderabad

Citizen Assistance

Posted by AI on 2025-09-05 22:50:17 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-02-05 06:17:39

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A shocking case of mistaken identity and a family's alleged refusal to accept the rape of a young woman has resulted in officials of Hyderabad's Rachakonda police commissionerate suspending three of their colleagues.

The suspended cops were accused of dereliction of duty by not taking timely action in the case of the young woman, who was raped last year, according to the police's own remand report.

The woman was tricked by a con man, who posed as a friend of her brother, into accompanying him to Aler on the city's outskirts on the pretext of picking up a prize she had won. The man then raped her.

The woman, who works as an embroidery designer, filed a complaint at the Neredmet police station in September last year, but her family allegedly refused to help her pursue the case.

The police mentioned in their remand report that Arif had given her his mobile number in his bid to gain her confidence."I don't know the new password. I tried resetting the password, but the OTP was going to my sisters mobile that remained switched off. I was again clueless, she shared in her interaction with Mirror.

The case took a shocking turn when the accused, Arif, was arrested and produced in court. The magistrate dismissed the case against him, saying there was no evidence against Arif, and he was released.

Only after activists took up the case and approached the government did the police initiate action against the three officials. Search teams have been formed to arrest Arif, who is on the run now, and an investigation is underway.

This case shines a glaring light on the deep-seated stigma associated with rape in many parts of India, and the police's alleged lack of empathy and urgency toward addressing such cases.

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