20-yr-old in city accused of raping college mate

MUMBAI:

A 20-year-old student of a Chembur college has been arrested for allegedly raping a college mate he befriended recently on a social networking site.

The accused, held on Sunday, is in the final year of the Bachelor of Management Studies course at the Vivekanand Education Society's College of Arts, Science and Commerce, while the victim who belongs to a business family, is his junior and is studying another course.

Senior Inspector B.B. Rathod said the boy, a resident of Chembur camp, was arrested after the victim lodged a complaint.

The two were initially in touch on the phone and on the Internet and met when college reopened in July. The girl once told the boy that she was worried about her advertising project. The accused assured her he would help, police said.

On July 20, when his family was a way, he called the girl home to work on the project. "That night, they worked on the project and watched TV," said a police officer.

The girl returned the next day to finish the project. While they were working, the boy allegedly started touching her inappropriately. When she objected, he allegedly threatened her with a kitchen knife and raped her, Rathod said. He let her go only the next morning, Rathod said.

The girl has been sent for a medical examination.

HT has decided to withhold the name of the accused because the charges are yet to be established

RISK ONLINE

Do not put out too much personal information on the Internet, warn cyber experts.

Do a background check before befriending anybody.

Do not believe people you meet online blindly and reveal too much about yourself.