Mumbai Crime: Pandit rapes singer in Charkop, arrested

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A pandit has been arrested by the Charkop police for allegedly raping a 21-year-old singer by pretending to conduct a puja at home for prosperity and business.

The accused had told the woman that there was an unholy soul in her body, which only a pure priest could get out. He then proceeded to strip and rape her.

The woman, however, realised what happened was not right and told her husband the next day, and along with him, lodged a case at Charkop police station. The police arrested the accused in the wee hours of Tuesday and produced him in the court, which has remanded him in police custody.

The accused has been identified as Umesh Ramashankar Pandey, a resident of Charkop. According to police sources, the woman is singer of remix albums and lives in a rented flat with her husband who is a music composer.

Pandey lives in the same locality and came in contact with the couple a few months back when they were looking for a priest to perform the 'gruhparvesh' puja. As they were not doing too well in their professions, the couple was worried and took the advice of a friend who suggested a havan at home for growth in business and for prosperity.

They called Pandey for the puja on Sunday. When the husband went out to fetch the puja material, Pandey told the woman that she was possessed by an evil spirit which is why she was not doing well professionally. He told her she would have to become naked in order to get the spirit out.

He then convinced her that she needed to sleep with him to get the evil spirit out. In the middle of the act she realised something was wrong and told him to leave the house. Scared, she told her husband about the incident only the next day.

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