On Saturday afternoon, Special Women’s Court judge A S Shende framed charges against playback singer Ankit Tiwari. In May 2014, he was accused of rape by a 28-year-old woman, who alleged that he had raped her repeatedly between October 2012 and December 2013, but assuaged her by saying he would marry her.
When he didn’t keep the promise, she filed a complaint at the Versova police station. The woman also accused the singer’s brother Ankur Tiwari of threatening her. Ankit, who was arrested on May 9, 2014, was let out on bail on May 22, 2014.
On Saturday, he was present in court with his two brothers. He has been charged under sections 376 (rape), 493 (cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage), 417 (cheating) and 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. Charges were also framed against Ankur.
The next hearing is slated for February 5, 2016. It’s expected that the first witness in the case will depose then. In January this year, Tiwari’s lawyers had filed a plea in the High Court asking that the case be squashed as the complainant and the accused had decided to settle the matter. However, speaking to SUNDAY mid-day, one of Tiwari's defence lawyers, said, “We withdrew that application on Friday.
The HC has directed us to file a discharge application within 15 days. On Saturday, while the Sessions court was framing the charges, we informed them about the High Court order but the court said that it couldn’t adjourn the matter and framed the charges. We are now going to challenge the same in the HC.”
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