Uttrakhand Police on Friday booked a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader for allegedly abducting and raping a minor girl in Champawat district.
The accused identified as Kamal Rawat is a local leader, police said, adding that efforts are being made to arrest him.
“We have booked a BJP leader for raping a minor. He is on the run. We are looking for him. He will be arrested soon,” Yogesh Upadhyay, Champawat police station in-charge said.
Police said that a rape case against Rawat was registered based on the complaint filed by the minor girl’s mother. He has been booked under sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping), 354 (assault on woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 376 (rape) and POCSO Act.
According to the complainant, Rawat abducted and raped her 16-year-old daughter and also threatened her if she divulged his crime.
“The medical examination of the minor has been conducted. The matter is being probed by a female sub-inspector, Pinki Dhami,” Upadhyay said.
Also Read: Five held for raping 15-year-old in Karnataka’s Kolar
Congress state unit attacked the ruling party saying many BJP leaders have been booked in several cases of rape and crime against women in Uttarakhand.
{{/usCountry}}Congress state unit attacked the ruling party saying many BJP leaders have been booked in several cases of rape and crime against women in Uttarakhand.
{{/usCountry}}“First, the woman receptionist in Rishikesh was murdered by BJP leader Vinod Arya’s son Pulkit Arya, now the BJP mandal president in Champawat has been booked for raping a minor,” Uttarakhand Congress spokesperson Garima Mehra Dasauni said while addressing a press conference.
She also claimed that the police registered a first information report (FIR) hours after the complaint was filed against Kamat.
“It has come to light that police were initially reluctant to register a case and registered the FIR after a delay of eight hours. The state police is clearly working under the pressure of the ruling party,” Dasauni said.
Meanwhile, the state BJP unit said the party does not tolerate the workers who play with the dignity of women and will act against the accused BJP leader if found guilty.
“Action will be taken against him (the accused BJP leader) if he is found guilty in the police investigation. Our party does not tolerate any such worker who plays with the dignity of women,” said Mukesh Kalkhuriya, district general secretary of BJP’s Champawat unit.
The Congress also said that they would stage a protest on December 31 in all 13 districts of the state by burning effigies of the BJP in the wake of the recent incident.
Citing the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures, Dasauni said that “women and girls” are not safe anymore in ‘Devbhoomi’.
HT earlier this month reported that Uttarakhand witnessed an increase of a 62% rise in rape cases, according to the annual ‘Crime in India Report 2022’ published by the NCRB.