MP govt official rapes woman inside car, held

JABALPUR: A 32-year-old govt official was arrested for allegedly raping a 35-year-old woman - a mother of two - in a car in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur after luring her there on the pretext of giving her a job.

The accused, Pankaj Singh Parihar, is an assistant engineer with the panchayat department, and is posted in Samnapur block of Dindori district.

According to additional SP (rural) Suryakant Sharma, the woman works at a private hospital and became acquainted with Parihar on a phone call. He told her about a vacancy in the health department and claimed he could help her bag the job if she could travel to Dindori to meet an official.

On Saturday, the woman travelled to Dindori (140km away) by bus without informing her family. Parihar took her in his car to Amarkantak, ostensibly to meet the official. On the way back, he allegedly raped her inside the vehicle.