Bengaluru: A 19-year-old student alleged two men gangraped her at a villa in north Bengaluru’s Jakkur this month, but the case took a contested turn when it emerged that one of the accused had filed a blackmail complaint the day before the sexual assault FIR was registered.
The student filed her complaint at Amruthahalli Police Station on 22 February. In it, she alleged that Dixon Sandra, 21, cultivated a relationship with her before inviting her to the villa for a party.
The student also detailed the allegations in a social media video, in which her face is blurred. She said in the video, “I am standing up because I need justice and I think I deserve justice. Because I am not the only girl they have done this to. First of all, Dixon made me fall in love with him, trapped me, called me everyday, texted me everyday… I have the whole call history with me. He made me love him, made me go to that villa and both of them and both of them did things to me.”
ThePrint could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
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The ‘assault’
According to her police complaint, the student was having dinner with a friend in Banashankari when Dixon called her at around 8.30pm on 14 February. She reached the villa at 1.15am, where Dixon was with another man he introduced as his friend, Nikhil.
“We were eating snacks and chilling for a bit. Then both Nikhil and Dixon forcefully put a pink tablet into my mouth. After about 10 minutes, my body heated up and I was sweating,” she said in the complaint.
She said her vision turned hazy and she felt dizzy. Dixon allegedly took her to a room and told her he was stepping out for a smoke. “I lost consciousness after that. When I woke up, I was half naked and Nikhil’s hand was on my chest. I pushed him aside and then covered myself with a bedsheet,” she alleged in the complaint.
The student alleged that after the sexual assault, the two men locked her inside the room. The next day, at around 12pm, Nikhil drove her towards Lulu Mall in Rajajinagar, threatening her en route against going to the police or speaking about the incident.
She did not go to the police immediately, but sought treatment at St Philomena’s Hospital in the city, she said. On 17 February, she told her brother about the ordeal; he persuaded her to file a formal complaint. In the video, the student accused the two men of assaulting other women as well.
Police have registered an FIR under sections 60 (rape), 70(1) (gangrape) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation/threat to life), among other provisions, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The counter-complaint
A day before the student approached police, on 21 February, Nikhil filed a complaint at Malleshwaram Police Station, alleging that he was being blackmailed.
Nikhil, who describes himself as a used car salesman, said he had leased the Jakkur villa and sub-let it for events and parties. In his account, the student was introduced to him at the party and began sharing personal difficulties, including her parents’ divorce and her father’s cancer diagnosis.
Nikhil alleged she tried to touch him inappropriately during this conversation. “I told her to behave properly,” he said in his complaint.
After the party, around 4 pm, the student allegedly asked him for a lift. “When I got her in the car, she spoke to me very politely as before and said, ‘I am a sugar baby, I need a sugar daddy, if anyone wants one, please message me,’” Nikhil said. He said he dropped her near a popular bakery in Rajajinagar and returned home.
Nikhil said he subsequently learnt that the student had posted her account of the alleged assault on Instagram. He then alleged that a man named Imran, who identified himself as the ‘Crime Branch head of Raj News’, called him to demand money.
“If you do not listen to us, they have prepared your promo, put it on Raj News channel and threatened to ruin your reputation,” Nikhil told police in the complaint.
He sought police action against the student and Imran, claiming he is the aggrieved party.
An FIR was registered under sections 308(2) (extortion) and 3(5) (criminal intent) of BNS.
Asked about the cases, a police officer told ThePrint Tuesday that since the two FIRs were registered at separate stations, investigators will figure out if and how the cases are related.
(Edited by Prerna Madan)