A 30-year-old woman was reportedly raped and blackmailed by her former office colleague in Rajkot, Gujarat. The accused, Zubin Pathan, who was friends with the victim, a Hindu woman, by dint of working in the same Ahmedabad organisation years ago, took her to a hotel in Rajkot and raped her.
He also shot her obscene pictures and videos and threatened to circulate them on social media if she refused to have a sexual relationship with him.
The Rajkot police filed a case after the victim registered a complaint against the accused, Zubin Pathan, a resident of Alsager Apartment D-2 in Juhapura, Ahmedabad. Zubin has been charged with IPC 376, 506 for threatening to make the photos and videos of sexual intercourse viral and threatening to send these photos and videos to his family.
In her complaint to the police, the victim said that she is currently living in Rajkot but knew Zubin from her previous employment. In 2018, the girl was employed with an organisation based out of Ahmedabad, which also employed Zubin Pathan. The two became friends while working in the organisation and had a common friends circle.
However, in March 2019, the woman resigned from the organisation and came to Rajkot, where she began preparing for competitive exams. However, the two were in touch with each other through mobile phones. Then in November 2021, when Zubin visited Rajkot, he contacted the woman and informed her about his visit. He asked her to meet him at a hotel on Ring Road, where he forcibly had sexual intercourse with her and shot photos and videos of the woman on his mobile phone.
After the incident, the woman severed contact with Zubin and stopped speaking with him. However, a few months back, he again started blackmailing her that if she did not have a sexual relationship with him, he would leak her photos and videos online and to her family members. Distressed by Zubin’s constant threats, the woman confided in her brother, who gave her the courage to report the matter to the police. The woman had so far not filed a complaint with the police fearing the loss of her reputation. But as Zubin continued to harass her, she went to the Rajkot Taluka police station and narrated her ordeal to the police. The police have filed a case and launched a manhunt to nab the accused.
