Anti-rape
A bank manager allegedly sought sexual favours from a woman in exchange of a crop loanGetty Images

Buldhana Police and the Nagpur Crime Branch have arrested Rajesh Hivse, the manager of the Central Bank of India's Datala branch for seeking sexual favours from a woman in order to clear a crop loan.

Hivse was arrested on Monday, and the bank's peon Manoj Chavan was arrested from Amravati on June 23. Both of them were suspended over the weekend for demanding sexual favours from the wife of a farmer.

The Maharashtra Police filed a case against Hivase and Chavan, under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code and various sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Chandrapur District collector Nirupama Dange told ANI that the matter has been taken seriously at the administrative level, and would be raised in a fast track court shortly.

According to the police, when the crop loan proposal was submitted, the bank manager had asked the farmer for a contact number so as to clear doubts, if any, during scrutiny. The farmer gave his wife's contact number. The manager, who made a call to the farmer's wife, however, spoke in an obscene and lewd manner and demanded sexual favours in return for clearing the loan request.

When the matter came to light, the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana staged a protest in front of the bank's Datala branch on Saturday. The bank was closed, and the protestors broke the bank's board and painted its wall black.

[ With inputs from ANI]