Customs official accused of rape in Lucknow

Lucknow: A customs official was accused of rape by a domestic help in Uttar Pradesh's capital and a case has been registered against him, police said on Monday.

Superintendent of Police Dinesh Yadav said a case has been registered and investigation is going on. The domestic help, working in the house of one of the relatives of the official, lodged a complaint Sunday that Customs Superintendent Sushil Kumar raped her 20 days back, police said.

She also told police that he has been molesting her for the past few months and she did not raise the issue with anyone out of fear. "We have questioned the complainant and she has been taken for a medical examination. We will act as per law," Yadav said. Sushil Kumar, however, denied that he has raped the domestic help and accused the woman of fabricating the allegation since he had thrown her out of the house for not looking properly after her paternal aunt.

"She had been kept to attend on my ailing 'bua' (aunt) but was not doing her job properly, so I removed her," the official told police. Police officials, who are investigating the case, said prima-facie it "appeared weak" but added that they would explore all angles bef