A horrifying incident has again come to light in Kolkata, where a woman's first date turned into her worst nightmare. A woman was allegedly rape on her first date on a boat ride at the Princep Ghat arranged through social media with a man posing as an Army personnel, whom she met on Facebook.
Deep Narayan Bhattyacharya, a 22-year-old man, was arrested on Saturday night after being on the run for over a month, accused of raping a woman during the boat ride on the Hooghly River and later blackmailing her for money.
The Police said that Bhattyacharya met the woman on Facebook earlier this year and gained the woman's trust by posing as a senior government and Army officer. After months of chatting, he invited her on a date in March- a boat ride from Prinsep Ghat to Babughat. He allegedly began to assault her once they were mid-river, threatening to release objectionable photos if she dared to complain.
Victim's ordeal didn't end there
The victim later stated in her complaint that Bhattyacharya exacted Rs. 35,000 from her through continued threats of exposure. Unable to bear such harassment, she lodged an FIR at the Netajinagar police station on July 14.
Following the filing of the FIR, the accused went into hiding, prompting a month-long manhunt by the police. On Saturday night, he was chased down and arrested in Behala.
After Bhattyacharya appeared before the Alipore Court on Sunday, the court ordered him to remain in police custody until September 3 in order to conduct additional investigation. Later, authorities revealed that Bhattyacharya was actually an NCC Cadet masquerading as an Army member, which raised worries about the abuse of social media personas to win false trust.
