A 13-year-old girl from Chhattisgarh’s Duldula area fell prey to a twisted online romance that escalated into blackmail, a fake “virtual marriage,” and a horrific rape watched live by her groom from afar. After nearly three years on the run, the rapist—sent by the main accused—has finally been caught.
It began in 2021 when Kundan Raj, a Patna resident, spotted the girl’s social media profile. He got her number, professed instant love based on her photo, and persisted despite her rejections. Conversations soon turned explicit. Raj staged a video-call “wedding,” declaring them husband and wife, then coerced her into obscene calls—secretly recording them all.
When she resisted more demands, Raj threatened to post the videos online. He then insisted his “friend” join their “wedding night,” watching via live video. In October 2021, associate Dilip Chauhan, 29, showed up at her home posing as Deepak Yadav and raped her as Raj observed remotely.
Terrified, the girl stayed silent until Raj sent a clip to her elder sister. The siblings reported it to Duldula police, triggering a case under IPC, POCSO Act, and IT Act. Raj was nabbed in Patna in 2022; his phone yielded evidence, and he confessed to dispatching Chauhan. Chauhan evaded arrest by constantly relocating—until Jashpur police tracked him to Kunkuri on Wednesday. He too has confessed.
SSP Shashi Mohan Singh stated: “The Patna man deceived her with a virtual marriage, then sent his friend to rape her. The first was arrested earlier; we’ve now got the second and are sending him to jail.”
