MUMBAI: A 33-year-old Dubai-based woman has sought the registration of a First Information Report against Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale, accusing him of raping her under the pretext of marriage, and also tweeted her complaint to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Dismissing her allegations, Shewale, who belongs to the Shinde-led faction in the Sena and is now the new group leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, approached the cyber cell of Mumbai police and demanded an FIR against her for allegedly uploading a defamatory video and letter on social media.
Shewale's wife Kamini termed the woman's allegations a "deliberate conspiracy" to tarnish the image of the Mumbai South Central MP.
In her complaint, the woman, who runs a textile business, alleged that Mumbai Police had not registered the FIR despite recording her statement.
She alleged in the complaint that Shewale had been "emotionally and mentally exploiting her" and raping her since 2020.
Shewale established physical relations with her after telling her that his relations with his wife were strained; he promised to her marry her after divorcing his wife, as per the complaint.
"The MP used to invite me for dinner at the MP House in Delhi whenever I used to come from Dubai. In October 2021, I posted a video and photo of me and Shewale on Instagram, following which he lodged an FIR against me in Sharjah and I was arrested. I spent 78 days in jail but I was acquitted later," the complainant woman told PTI over the phone on Tuesday.
The woman, who is visiting Mumbai, claimed she had lodged a complaint of rape against Shewale in April this year at Sakinaka police station but no further action was taken.
"I came to know that Sakinaka Police have registered an FIR against me for extortion and other sections of the IPC on Shewale's complaint. I provided all the proof to the police and also approached the National Commission for Women. I request the chief minister to take action against Shewale and direct the police to register the FIR against him," she said.
Sakinaka police on July 11 registered an FIR against the woman on the charges of extortion, cheating, and defamation on the direction of a metropolitan magistrate's court in Andheri.
The court order came on an application filed by Shewale.
The MP had stated in his complaint to the court that the woman approached him on the pretext of seeking financial assistance for her business, but eventually started extorting money by threatening to defame him.
The woman was pressuring him to divorce his wife and marry her, he alleged.
Shewale also stated that he had met the woman through a close friend in February 2020.
In her statement on Tuesday, Kamini Shewale alleged that the woman has a criminal family background and her brother is serving sentence in a Delhi jail for raping and murdering a woman.
"This is a deliberate conspiracy to tarnish the political and social reputation of MP Rahul Shewale," she stated.
The MP himself approached the Mumbai Police's Cyber Cell, demanding an FIR against the woman for uploading a video and a letter defaming him on Twitter, a police official said.
Taking advantage of their acquaintance, the woman shot some videos and started blackmailing him, Shewale's latest complaint said.
The MP demanded that a case be registered against the woman under the Information Technology Act, and Twitter be asked to block her account.
Meanwhile, the Nagpur police have beefed up security at the office of Shiv Sena MP Krupal Tumane, amid an impending split in the Sena parliamentary party, officials said on Tuesday.
The security outside the homes and offices of some of the other Sena parliamentarians has also been stepped up, according to an official.
The Shiv Sena parliamentary party is staring at a split in its ranks with a breakaway faction set to approach Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with a plea to recognise them as a separate group with Rahul Shewale as their leader.
A Shiv Sena Lok Sabha member had claimed that at least 12 of the 19 Sena members will meet Birla to submit a formal letter to recognise it as a separate group.
A police official on Tuesday said security was provided to the office of Tumane, the Lok Sabha member from Ramtek here, on the instructions of Nagpur Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar.
Personnel of the Nandanvan police station were deployed at Tumane's office at Bhande Plot in Nagpur city.
A police jeep was also stationed and a sub-inspector was in-charge of the security cover, the official said.
The security outside the homes of some other Sena MPs, including Hemant Godse who represents Nashik constituency, was also stepped up, another official said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is in New Delhi to review on Tuesday the legal strategy on the disqualification petition against 16 MLAs supporting him filed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
Shinde is also likely to meet the breakaway faction of the Shiv Sena MPs in the national capital on Tuesday, a day after he was anointed as the 'chief leader' of the party at the national executive meeting.