Emails were sent to official addresses of KK Rao, Commissioner of Police, Gurugram and PK Agrawal, DGP Haryana to seek their comments, but no response was received from them.Speaking to National Herald, Bhardwaj said that she came to know of the matter when a young man sought help from her. “The woman forced this man to marry her by threatening him that she’ll file a fake rape complaint against him. When I delved into the matter, the sordid details tumbled out. It became clear that she was running a well-organised racket of targeting men who were members of a gym or through dating apps etc. She is totally fearless and is conversant with nuances of criminal laws,” she said.“She typically alleges that the man raped her on the pretext of marriage. I personally know of a man who paid her Rs 3.5 lakhs out of fear. How many others are there is unknown as of now. Only a thorough probe by the police can unravel all the details. It seems to be the proverbial tip of the iceberg,” she added.Reached for her comments regarding the status of formation of a SIT, Dalal, said, “It has not been formed yet but we are following up on the matter. I have met Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij and he has assured me that the needful will be done.”“Such misuse of laws by a woman is a serious issue. They are meant to help and protect women. Levelling of false rape allegations destroys the standing of the accused in society,” she added.Commenting on the issue, Delhi-based criminal lawyer Nishant Kumar Srivastava, who set up law firm Actus Legal Associates, said, “Over a period of time, the liberal interpretation of “consent” and “refusal/ no” by a female victim of a sexual offence and the specific bar/ irrelevance of asking questions to the victim lady of a sexual offence/ prosecutrix related to her past sexual experience or character in cross examination, which is obviously well intended and is considered as an act of empowering such hapless women victims of sexual offences, has unfortunately made it easy for some unscrupulous people to misuse the law to the hilt.”“In fact, one can hear many stories in the corridors of court complexes around the country about well-organised and well-greased syndicate of such people including women, men and police officials who trap innocent males with a woman getting friendly and intimate with them. They later threaten to file false FIRs against them and extort money from the hapless male who faces loss of reputation and ruined family life – divorce by wife and hatred by children and relatives and friends – and above all his name being made public in the media overnight. Many of them end up ‘settling’ the matter in the police station itself after exchange of money,” he said.“We must not forget that if we say or believe that only 10-20 per cent of sexual offence cases are reported by a victim of such an offence, the converse may also be true i.e. to say such unscrupulous people must have settled 80-90 per cent false accusations in the police station itself and only 5-7 FIRs, where the financial deal couldn’t materialise, got registered!” he added.Asked whether the Gurugram Police should have done a background check of the woman’s complaints before registering FIRs which would have revealed her modus operandi, Srivastava said, “In order to end the discretion of the police, which was seen in many cases siding with a powerful perpetrator and therefore not registering an FIR even when a victim had made a clear complaint to the police – specifically in cases where the information revealed eve-teasing, molestation, trafficking, disrobing a women or incidence of rape etc. – Section 166A was inserted in the IPC in 2013.”“As per this law, refusal to register an FIR when a complaint alleges rape, trafficking etc by a police official renders him liable to be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a minimum term of six months and which may extend up to two years and he is also liable to fine. This step was in the right direction, but it has some unwanted side effects too. It requires the police to register an FIR the moment they receive a complaint by a victim or anyone on her behalf disclosing commission of rape,” he said.“There is a genuine fear amongst policemen that if they don’t register an FIR, even if they have reasons to believe that such a complaint is false and fabricated and meant to extort money, the issue might reach media houses and women right activists, leading to a hue and cry which leads to them getting suspended right away. No official would like to risk his job, source of income and sustenance for his/her own family,” he added.Asked about the legal consequences for such a woman filing false FIRs, Srivastava said, “The law is clear as to the legal consequences of setting the criminal action in motion maliciously and on false grounds. Section 211 (False charge of offence made with intent to injure) of the IPC deals with it and provides for a punishment of imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and also fine.”“Interestingly, this is a non-cognizable offence, the category of offence as per Cr.P.C. in which the police can neither register an FIR nor can investigate or effect arrest without the express permission or direction from a court of law. This which means the police is helpless even if it is aware of such a modus operandi,” he said.“Again, life in this section is infused only when the accused is clearly acquitted on merits at the end of the trail. Unfortunately the hapless male accused ends up facing the entire trial, unless or until the alleged victim/ complainant/ prosecutrix herself admits her wrongdoing and makes a statement before the court that her original complaint was false,” he said.“So a person who is a victim of such malicious prosecution can exercise his option only after the trial ends in his acquittal and approaches court for express permission or direction to the police to register a case under Section 211 IPC. And now again a very long process begins, first to get an FIR registered against the false informant/ complainant/ prosecutrix and then to wait for the outcome of this trial to see such an unscrupulous lady getting punished for ruining his biggest attest, his fame and respect in the society. Obviously, she may well get acquitted at the end of it,” he added.
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