File FIR, probe rape charges against youth Cong leader: Court to cops

The complaint said the youth leader had demanded a sexual relation from her and ₹5 lakh to delete her videos

A court here on Monday directed the district police to investigate the rape complaint against youth Congress leader Varun Joshi after registering an FIR.

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A woman has alleged that Joshi of Himmatpura village in Moga raped and blackmailed her by threatening to upload videos of her getting intimate with another person on the internet. She stated in her complaint that in December 2019, Joshi had demanded a sexual relation from her and ₹5 lakh to delete the videos.

“I paid ₹4 lakh to one Balwinder of Himmatpura and Joshi assured that he had deleted all the videos. On April 24, he again came to my office and told me he has deleted only a few clips and demanded ₹3 lakh more. Joshi then took me to a secluded place on Bhagi-ke-Saidkoke road and raped me,” she stated.

The survivor’s counsel, Ranjit Singh Dhaliwal, argued that she had narrated the incident to police officials, but they did not initiate any proceedings against the accused as he is an influential person.

Sub-divisional judicial magistrate Amandeep Kaur ordered that the police was required to register an FIR and had no right to carry out a preliminary inquiry to verify the credibility of information supplied by the victim. “Keeping in the view the facts and circumstances, the SHO of Nihal Singh Wala police station is directed to investigate the matter after registering an FIR,” Kaur said.