Woman implants bullet in chest, alleges gang-rape to frame mayor
What's the story
In a bizarre case from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, a 40-year-old woman has been arrested for hurling false allegations against the city's mayor.
Per TOI, she had implanted a bullet in her chest, alleged she was abducted and gang-raped as part of an elaborate scheme to frame the city's mayor and his son.
Her story was busted by CCTV footage and medical evidence.
She has now been taken into custody along with two accomplices involved in the unusual plot.
Motive
Dismissal as domestic help may have sparked revenge plot
The woman was fired as a domestic worker by the mayor's wife in 2021. This rejection might have set her off to devise a revenge plan against the mayor and his son.
Police confirmed there was no abduction in the case and the bullet she said was lodged in her chest had never been fired.
False narrative
Woman's fabricated story unraveled by investigators
On March 29, she arrived at a Bareilly hospital with a bullet lodged in her chest.
She alleged that five men had kidnapped her in broad daylight, raped her in a moving car, shot her, and left her to die.
The mayor and his son were accused of the heinous crime. But as investigators went deeper into the case, discrepancies started emerging in the woman's version.
Evidence
Surveillance footage contradicts woman's abduction claims
Police found no proof of her alleged abduction.
"We checked the CCTV and found that she arrived at the hospital in an auto-rickshaw," said SSP Anurag Arya. "There was no abduction."
Investigation further revealed there was no gunpowder residue at the spot she pointed out as where she was shot. The bullet lodged in her chest had never been fired, further discrediting her narrative.
Conspiracy
Woman seeks help to implant bullet in her chest
The woman had asked for help from a hospital staffer, Rohatash, to get a bullet. When questioned by police, he confessed.
She then went to Hajipur looking for someone to implant it in her body. She finally found Sharif Khan, a local quack who agreed for ₹2,500.
"He numbed her skin then heated a coin to sterilize the area and inserted the bullet just below the surface," said Arya.
Arrest
Woman arrested, accomplices sought for staging incident
The woman was arrested last week, along with Rohatash and Sharif Khan. Police are now on the lookout for four others suspected to be involved with her in staging this incident.
This isn't the first time she has made allegations against the mayor. In 2022, she filed a similar complaint that also collapsed under investigation after she retracted her statement and the case was closed.