MP finance minister resigns over sodomy charges
Barely a day before his birthday, Madhya Pradesh finance minister Raghavji resigned over alleged sodomy charges levelled by his servant. The latter reportedly submitted a complaint to Habibganj police station in Bhopal today. HT reports.
Madhya Pradesh finance minister Raghavji resigned from his post on Friday over sodomy charges levelled against him by his domestic help.
The latter submitted an affidavit to the police on Thursday night claiming he was in possession of a CD in which the minister’s unnatural act was recorded.
Raghavji, , 78, is the first minister in the history of the state, since it was created in 1956, to resign over a sex scandal.
“I have resigned on the advice of the chief minister. Only he can tell you the details (of why my resignation was sought),” Raghavji, who was planning a big birthday celebration on July 7, said. The scandal comes less than five months ahead of assembly polls.
On Friday morning, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan sought the minister's resignation. Though the minister pleaded innocence, Chouhan reportedly said he should step down till he was absolved of the charges.
The 29-year-old complainant, a resident of village Tamuiyan in Vidisha district which the minister is from, alleged that Raghavji sodomised him in his official bungalow from 2010 to May 2013 after getting him the job of assistant accountant with Som Distillery Pvt Ltd's MP Nagar office. He started living at the minister's bungalow after getting the job.
"Initially, Raghavji made me massage him. Later, he started having indecent talks and indulged in indecent acts with me. After some time he indulged in unnatural sex with me. This continued from 2010 to May 2013," he said in the complaint.
"When the minister's domestic help Sher Singh Chauhan and the latter's brother-in-law Suresh Chauhan came to know (about the minister's act) they blackmailed me and had unnatural sex with me several times," he further alleged.