20 October,2016 07:00 AM IST | | Vijay Kumar Yadav
A 30-year-old bar dancer from south Mumbai has filed an FIR against her husband for allegedly duping her of Rs 1.17 crore. The complaint also states that her man would pimp her out to his friends
Ravi Shetty, the bar girl's husband
A 30-year-old bar girl from south Mumbai has lodged an FIR with the police alleging that her husband duped her of Rs 1.17crore. The bar dancer, who has worked in Mumbai's infamous bars like Baywatch and Topaz, alleged that her husband also pimped her to his friends. She has said in her complaint that her husband took money from her saying he was investing in the bar business, but splurged on other bar girls instead and also had extramarital affairs.
The police have booked the husband, Ravi Prakash Shetty, for cheating, pimping and have also booked one of his friends, Rati Krishna Patnaik alias Sonu, for raping the complainant. Shetty is currently absconding, while Sonu has got anticipatory bail.
Came to city from Delhi
The woman (whose name has been withheld), who hails from Delhi, came to Mumbai around nine years ago with her daughter and brother in search of a job. In Mumbai, the woman, with the help of a friend got a job as a bar dancer and singer at Topaz bar, Grant Road.
The woman, who has passed SSC, later joined another bar, Baywatch, at Dadar. There she came in contact with a rich customer, Dinesh Jain. Jain gave her a flat on the 11th floor of a building at Lamington Road and they lived together for four years before parting.
The woman again resumed dancing at bars and joined Borivli's Charwak bar. Here, she met the accused, Shetty, an employee. After a few days, Shetty proposed marriage to the woman and threatened to kill himself if she did not marry him. They eventually got married in January 2013.
In the FIR (mid-day has a copy), the woman stated that soon after marriage Shetty started asking her for money to invest in other bars. The woman said she dipped into her savings and even borrowed from friends to give him the money to invest.
Losses in business
He kept telling her that he had suffered losses in his business and could not repay her. When she could not help with more money, he then forced her to do a private dance show for his friends at a bungalow. "When I said I would not, he again threatened to kill himself and I finally agreed. At the bungalow, his friend Sonu and his three friends raped me through the night," she stated in her complaint to DCP Zone 2. She told the police that Shetty pimped her 12-13 times and earned lakhs from high-profile customers.
She later learnt that Shetty had been splurging on other bar girls and had even been living with another woman.
Approached police
After her friends urged her to file a police complaint, the woman finally approached the DB Marg Police on September 30.
"The police initially registered a case of dowry harassment and criminal breach of trust. Also, Sonu managed to get anticipatory bail on October 15. The police did not oppose the bail plea in court," the woman alleged in a letter to additional commissioner of police, south region.
Senior inspector of DB Marg police station Narayan Shinde said, "There was some monetary dispute between the complainant and accused in this case. As these facts emerged during the preliminary inquiry, we presented them before the court. Probably taking cognisance of this, the court gave the accused anticipatory bail.
Regarding the other sections not been applied at the beginning, Shinde said, "The complainant was not clear about the facts of the case and because of this, sections of Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act and rape could not initially invoked in the case against Shetty and Patnaik. We have now applied these sections, too."
The police are now investigating the matter and checking the veracity of the allegations the woman has made in the complaint.
