His family wanted dowry: Airhostess

Mumbai, May 31, 2010

The 22-year-old airhostess from Jet Airways, who had alleged that she had been raped by a pilot from the same airlines on the false promise of marriage, claimed his family had made demands for dowry.

The victim’s family alleged that the pilot discontinued the relationship as his father had threatened to disown him if he married the girl without dowry.

The Powai police arrested Varun Agrawal (27) on Saturday after his flight landed in Mumbai. Both the accused and the victim are from the same town in Uttaranchal.

The victim’s complaint said that she met Agrawal in February 2008.

“Agrawal’s family owns lots of property in Uttaranchal and his father, who was opposed to the relationship, threatened him that if he married me, he would not get any share,” the victim said, adding that his mother initially liked her a lot and treated her well.

The victim's mother said that their family met the Agrawals’ in 2008 to discuss the marriage at their native place at Kashipur.

“We met his parents in the presence of two of his uncles. They said they wanted us to be happy and were not opposed to the marriage,” the victim's mother told Hindustan Times.

“However, his father said there was no reason why he should marry his son to my daughter as families of several girls had approached him with dowry offers worth more than Rs 1 crore,” she added.
The victim claimed that Agrawal had forced her into a physical relationship. “I had begged that I would not have a sexual relation with him until he married me but he forced himself against my wishes,” she said.
When she told him that she would commit suicide, he forced her to write a suicide note and kept it with him.
“He would harass me physically, verbally abuse me and had even threatened to kill me. I told his brother about it, but he did nothing,” she said.
She said it was Agrawal’s friend who encouraged her to lodge a complaint.
The Bandra court on Sunday remanded Agrawal to police custody till June 5.

The Case

A Jet Airways pilot, Varun Agrawal (27), was arrested on Saturday for allegedly raping a 22-year-old airhostess he was having a live-in relationship with.
The victim said she was not ready for a physical relationship but relented after Agrawal promised to marry her.
He, however, refused after his father raised objection.