Mumbai, Oct 2 (Mid-day) : The 41-year-old has filed a police complaint saying Vivek Dahifale, joint secretary in the state irrigation department, kept pushing back his plans of marrying her and had been raping her for the past two years

A civil servant from the state irrigation department has been accused of raping a woman repeatedly after promising to marry her. The woman registered the case with the Kherwadi police last week, after the accused snubbed her marriage proposal.

According to the police, the accused has been identified as Vivek Dahifale (45), joint secretary (administration) of the state irrigation department. The 41-year-old told the police that Dahifale had been promising to marry her for the past two years and raped her repeatedly. Dahifale’s younger brother, Uddhav Dahifale, is also a civil servant, attached to the state finance department.

False assurances

In her complaint, the survivor, who is married and stays in Nahur with her family, alleged that Dahifale had raped her several times in Alibaug, while assuring her that he would marry her. Senior Police Inspector Ashok Kadam from Kherwadi police station said, “We have registered an FIR under Section 376 (rape) against Vivek Dahifale.
The complainant mentioned in her statement that the accused met her via Facebook, and later, they began chatting. They met after some time and Vivek proposed to the woman.”

Later, Kadam said, Dahifale kept pushing back his plans saying he needed some more time, but always assuring the woman that he would keep his word. Meanwhile, he took the survivor to a lodge in Alibaug and raped her. Last week, when Dahifale told the woman he wouldn’t marry her, the survivor approached the cops.

A source from Kherwadi police station added, “The woman alleges she was raped several times, but can name 5-6 places where evidence against Dahifale exists. She said the accused has done the same thing with other women, too, and that more women are likely to come forward to complain against him.”

The case has been transferred to Alibaug police station, because the alleged rape happened there. The Alibaug police will conduct further investigations.

The other side

While the accused is currently absconding, his younger brother, Uddhav Dahifale, told mid-day, “We don’t know about these allegations the woman has made against my brother. I saw her for the first time in my life at the police station.
I only know this woman came in contact with my brother through Facebook. My brother is unmarried and stays with me in the government quarters. He hasn’t come here since the day the FIR was registered. We have faith in the Indian judiciary and the police are doing their work.”