Police data show crime against women is rising in Haryana, but every three in 10 rape cases registered in the state have turned out to be false.

The Haryana Police in the last four days have busted five gangs who after laying a honeytrap lodged false rape cases against men to extort money from them.

As many as 15 people, including a couple and a brother-sister duo, were arrested from five districts in this connection.

Incidentally, the series of alleged false cases has come to the fore at a time when the state has been witnessing a spate of crimes against women and minor girls, with cases of gang-rapes and murders reported from Jind, Panipat, Faridabad, Hisar, Fatehabad and other districts in the last few days.

Senior police officials said while they were trying to ensure that crimes against women were properly addressed, they have also issued instructions to cops to identify women lodging false cases so they can be booked under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code for framing innocent men, wasting police’s time and bringing disrepute to the state.

In one such case, the Jhajjar police on Wednesday arrested a gang of three women and one man who had been threatening a Najafgarh youth of lodging a false rape case against him if he failed to give them ₹1.5 lakh. The police said the victim had filed a complaint that he was befriended recently by one of the accused women and she called him to her residence in Jhajjar on the pretext of some work. At her house, she was joined by two other women and a man who forcefully made his obscene video and demanded ₹1.5 lakh from him.

Jhajjar superintendent of police (SP) B Satheesh Balan said they prepared a raiding team that caught the accused red-handed while the victim was handing them money.

In Rohtak district, the police arrested a brother-sister duo on Wednesday for demanding ₹95 lakh from a city-based contractor to withdraw a false case they had filed against 19 members of his family. The accused duo, Ravi and Shalu, were trying to cash in on contractor Mahender’s illicit relationship with their sister Meenakshi.

On Tuesday, the Bhiwani police had arrested a woman and a man who were demanding ₹6.5 lakh and a 150-square yard plot from Suresh of Tosham to withdraw the ‘false’ rape case they had filed against him. The accused had on January 9 lodged a case of rape and violence under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against Suresh. Acting on Suresh’s complaint, the police caught the two red-handed while accepting the money.

In yet another case, the Sirsa police had on Monday arrested five members of a gang, including two women, who were demanding ₹10 lakh from a person after making his obscene video.

The Jind police had on Sunday arrested a Punjab couple who was demanding ₹25 lakh from Narwana village youth to withdraw a rape case against him, under which he was lodged in jail from past two months.

While data shows crime against women is on a rise in Haryana, a police study analyzing the crime incidents of a particular period found that every 3 in 10 rape cases registered in the state turn out to be false during investigation.

BOXX: False rape and extortion

Jan 17, Jhajjar: 3 women among 4 held for making obscene video of youth, demanding Rs 1.5 lakh

Jan 17, Rohtak: Brother-sister duo held for demanding Rs 95 lakh from contractor to withdraw false case

Jan 16, Bhiwani: Woman among 2 arrested for demanding Rs 6.5 lakh and 150 sq yard plot to withdraw false rape case

Jan 15, Sirsa: 2 women among 5 arrested for making obscene video of man, demanding Rs 10 lakh

Jan 14, Jind: Punjab couple arrested for demanding Rs 25 lakh from youth to withdraw false rape case