MP: BJP leader, aides booked for ‘raping’ Dalit woman over BPL card promise

A local BJP leader and two of his associates have been booked for allegedly gang raping a Dalit woman after promising her help in getting a BPL card in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena, a senior police official said on Tuesday.

Updated on: Mar 1, 2017, 24:51:26 IST

Hindustan Times | By Shruti Tomar, Morena

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A local BJP leader and two of his aides have been booked for allegedly gang raping a Dalit woman after promising her help in getting a BPL card in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena, a senior police official said on Tuesday.

A local BJP leader and two of his associates have been booked for allegedly gang raping a Dalit woman. (Representative image)

The woman has alleged she was gang raped by Bhojpal Singh Jadon and two of his associates in Morena on Sunday night after the accused lured her to his house.

“A case of gang rape has been registered against three persons, including Bhojpal, but no arrests have been made,” Morena SP Vineet Khanna said.

Khanna said a police team visited the place where the woman was allegedly gang raped and has found an eyewitness who told the police that Jadon had taken the woman with him on Sunday night. The 35-year-old woman, a resident of Sumawali village in Morena , was trying to get a Below Poverty Line ration card so that she could buy items at a subsidised rate.

Jadon, who is also a chairperson of society that runs the ration shop in the village, asked the woman to come to Morena to register herself for the card. When she visited his office on Sunday, Jadon allegedly took her to a room where he raped her along with his two associates, the woman has alleged. Jadon also threatened her of dire consequences if she told anyone of the incident. The woman told her husband about the incident and they registered the case with local police station later.

The opposition also raised the issue in the state assembly on Tuesday. Leader of opposition Ajay Singh alleged that an influential local BJP leader was behind the rape, and said he could influence the witnesses.

Morena BJP general secretary Jaya Chaturvedi said she had no idea about the allegations and refused to comment. Morena BJP district president Anoop Singh disconnected the phone when asked to comment on the issue.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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