Senior Shiv Sena leader Raghunath Kuchik lured a young girl with all lavishes, promised her marriage made her pregnant and later on asked to terminate the baby. He is been booked by Pune Police on charges of raping a 24-year-old woman by making false promises of marriage and then allegedly forcing her to terminate her pregnancy later.
A First Information Report in this regard has been registered at Shivajinagar police station against Kuchik, who is deputy leader of Shiv Sena, general secretary of Bharatiya Kamgar Sena, a Sena-backed trade union, and chairman of the Minimum Wages Advisory Committee of the Maharashtra government, which is a position of Minister of State rank.
Senior Inspector Anita More, in charge of Shivaji Nagar police station, said, “He (Kuchik) has been booked on charges of raping the woman on the false promise of marriage and later terminating her pregnancy against her consent.” The FIR also states that Kuchik threatened to harm the woman if she told anyone about what was happening.
When asked whether Kuchik will be placed under arrest, Pune Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta said, “The arrest will depend on the progress in the investigation. As of now, a case has been registered and investigation is being conducted.”
The complainant has alleged that Kuchik raped her on multiple occasions in different places, including Pune and Goa, between November 2020 and February 2021 on the false promise of marriage. Kuchik has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (Punishment for rape), 313 (Causing miscarriage without woman’s consent) and 506 (Criminal intimidation).
Suicide alert on Facebook
On March 12, 2022, the young woman posted on Facebook that Raghunath Kuchik had accused her of threatening her on WhatsApp. She also shared a screenshot of it. She also said in the post that she was committing suicide. Now the girl is missing.
What actually happened
The incident was first reported on February 17, 2022. The girl had lodged a complaint against Shiv Sena leader Raghunath Kuchik at Shivajinagar police station in Pune on the same day. The young woman had accused Kuchik of having sexual relations with her under the pretext of marriage and then forcing her to have an abortion. The incident took place at Pride Hotel in Pune, Buy the Beach in Goa from November 2020 to February 2022, she said. A case under sections 376, 313 and 506 was registered against Raghunath Kuchik. BJP leader Chitra Wagh held a press conference in Mumbai with the girl and demanded the arrest of Raghunath Kuchik. Meanwhile, the court has granted pre-arrest bail to Raghunath Kuchik in the case.
