Woman arrested for sexual exploitation of 18-year-old girl after luring her with TV serial work

MUMBAI: The Kurar police in Malad East arrested a 40-year-old woman from Hyderabad on Wednesday for her alleged involvement in the sexual exploitation of an 18-year-old girl by three men, after luring her with promises of roles in television serials and OTT series produced by Balaji Telefilms.

The police traced the woman after the 18-year-old approached them on October 7, claiming that the men had raped her over a period of four months, after one Sunita Rankhambe had allegedly sold her to the men by luring her with promises of work in TV serials and OTT series. Police picked up Rankhambe from Hyderabad after the survivor told them that she had been taken to the city by the accused and made to work in a restaurant as a waitress.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), the survivor, who lives in Malad East with her mother and siblings, told the police that on June 2, her mother’s friend Sunita Rankhambe came to their house and offered her a job of acting in serials being produced by Balaji Telefilms. She also told them that every month ₹20,000 would be sent to her family if she goes on outdoor shooting schedule.

After the woman’s mother agreed to the offer, Rankhambe took the survivor to Titwala, where the survivor was introduced to a man named Sameer on June 3, who in turn introduced her to a man named Amir, who allegedly raped her after spiking her drink and recorded the act on video. She was warned that the video would be made viral if she revealed anything to anyone.

In July, the woman was taken by Sameer to Goa, where she was allegedly raped for two days. Sameer took the woman to Goa for the second time in August and raped her again. On September 30, the survivor called her brother to come and pick her up, but Sameer refused to send her.

On October 5, she managed to escape and reach her home in Malad, where she revealed the entire story to her brother who then took her to the police station, where a case was registered against all the perpetrators – Sunita Rankhambe, her daughter and son-in-law, Sameer and Amir – with human trafficking, rape and common intention. The charges were registered under Section 143(2), 64 (2)(d) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.