After three days of investigation into the alleged rape and kidnap of a 19-year-old Hyderabad student, the Rachakonda police on Saturday said that the teenager had fabricated the entire story. The young woman, who wanted to “get away from home”, created a false story of abduction and rape, the police said.
The 19-year-old had claimed that she was abducted by an auto driver while returning home. Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat apologised to the auto drivers who were detained for questioning in the alleged crime. “The auto unions of Ghatkesar and Keesara had fully cooperated in the investigation. We apologise to the auto drivers who were taken for questioning. Sorry, that's our job. We had to eliminate all the suspicions,” the Commissioner said.
Addressing the media, the Commissioner narrated that the police teams spent almost two days examining footage from over 100 CCTV cameras between Yamnampet and Annojiguda in Rachakonda police limits. The woman had claimed that the alleged abductors had taken her to Yamnampet village and later dropped her at Annojiguda. She was found by the police in a semi-clad condition with injuries to her leg.
However, while scanning through the footage, police found that the student had voluntarily gotten off the auto at Yanmanpet in Ghatkesar mandal. “She walked for around four kilometers from Yanmanpet and boarded another auto and got off at Annojiguda. Her entire movement is caught on CCTV. She avoided calls from her parents. At Annojiguda, when the parents called her phone she answered it. Police were along with the parents. We asked her to share the live location and we found her in a semi-clad condition.”
The Commissioner added, “We have footage of her running towards the bushes and falling. That’s how she hurt herself.”
Unravelling the false story
The case was brought to the police’s attention on February 10. According to the police, at around 6.29 pm that day, the Dial 100 police helpline received a call about the alleged kidnap of the student. The parents said that the 19-year-old B.Pharmacy student had returned from college in the college bus and got down at Rampally X road. She then boarded an auto and called her mother informing her that the driver did not drop her off at the RL Nagar stop but was instead going at a high speed. Her mobile thereafter was not reachable.
Based on the information, all police stations were alerted and vehicle checks were carried out. “Finally, we traced the girl near the isolated place, near Bethel Church in Annojiguda service road under trauma and semi undressed. Police teams with her relatives shifted her to nearby Cure Hospital, Jodimetla for medical care,” stated the police press release.
However, the police said that after she was rescued, the student claimed that the auto driver beat her and shifted her into a van at Yamnampet with the help of the van driver. At Ghatkesar railway station two others joined them, she alleged.
Based on the details given by the woman, who pretended to be traumatised and semi unconscious, police had rounded up auto drivers whose vehicles had partially damaged doors.
Three autos were found with the description given by the woman. The photos of the three auto drivers were shown to the student. “The woman identified one auto driver. During inquiry and after collecting video evidence, we found that the auto driver was not lying. At 6.22 pm, the driver was at a multiplex, then he went to a bar. At the time of the incident, he was not in the spot mentioned by the woman. The videos and timecode establish this,” Mahesh Bhagwat said.
This is when suspicion arose against the complainant. Again upon questioning her, she lied narrating the same story but there were inconsistencies in her statement, said the police. The 19-year-old this time claimed that she was injected with some toxic substance. “We collected blood samples for examination,” said the Commissioner.
During the crime scene reconstruction, police visited Rampally junction. Her college senior, who boarded the auto along with her, was also questioned. While going through the CCTV videos, police found that the woman got off at Yamnampet.
After ascertaining that the student was lying, Malkajgiri DCP Rakshita Murthy who was heading the case, questioned her again. The woman confessed that she was lying.
“After collecting all the evidence and talking to the victim again, she confessed that due to family issues, she wanted to leave her house, and she informed her mother. Later on, due to police involvement, she panicked and out of fear, weaved a false story,” said the police in a press statement.
Police have closed the case withdrawing all the charges. “The auto drivers had asked her about why she singled out one auto driver and framed him. She told them that they had a spat once over auto fare.” “We spent three sleepless nights to solve this crime,” Bhagwat chuckled with a sigh.
Police have closed the case. The police had earlier filed charges against the four unidentified accused with sections 376(D) (gangrape) 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 354(B) (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 365 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Commissioner said that the woman had a fascination for kidnap stories and had studied kidnap incidents thoroughly.