Bhopal Model Held Hostage in Her Flat by Jilted Lover Freed After More Than 12 Hours

Bhopal: A 30-year-old woman who was held hostage at gunpoint inside her own home in Bhopal for over 12 hours by a man who claims to be her lover has been freed.

Her captor, 30-year-old Rohit from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, walked out with the woman, a model around 7:15 pm and surrendered. The woman has been taken to the hospital, officials said.

A large contingent of police was stationed outside the flat and had used both carrot and stick to make him release the woman, who is a model. The cops had also tried to barge in to rescue the woman but they were threatened by the accused.

Police officials said they saw that the woman was covered in blood, and the accused also tried to attack a sub-inspector with scissors. He had threatened to kill the woman if the police try to enter the house again, they said.

The accused was communicating with police through video call in which it was visible that the woman was injured and there was blood all over the room. He had even demanded a mobile phone charger and a stamp paper from the cops. The stamp paper was to make a sworn statement that the woman wants to marry him too, cops said.

Police outside the fifth floor flat where the girl was kept hostage for close to 12 hours.

The police reached the woman's house after neighbours complained of commotion. His friends were also called in to convince him to open the door of the flat, police said. Her flat is on the fifth storey.

On his demand, the police also offered water, cigarette and food time and again. The goods were sent into the house in a bucket through the grilled window of the girl’s bedroom. However, he has only consumed packed things and no other eatables, cops said.

Fire tenders, an ambulance and a team of doctors were stationed outside the house to handle any emergency. Home minister Bhupendra Singh also took stock of the situation.

The woman’s mother told News18 that they learnt about Rohit’s presence in their daughter’s room at 7am on Friday when she started yelling. “We pleaded Rohit to free our daughter and also promised her that he won’t be harmed but he did not listen,” she said.

She said that Rohit had made a similar attempt in February, following which they lodged a complaint with the police.