Goa’s former education minister and unattached legislator Atanasio alias Babush Monserrate has been booked for allegedly raping a minor girl from his assembly constituency, police sources said on Wednesday.
Monserrate denied the accusation, claiming that the FIR, which was filed against him on Wednesday evening was a conspiracy against him.
According to a complaint filed at the Panaji police station, the minor girl said Monserrate raped her on more than one occasion, after he employed her some weeks back at a lifestyle store owned by him.
“The complaint was filed under 376 of the Indian Penal Code today (Wednesday) and relevant sections of the Goa Children’s Act,” a police official familiar with the investigation told IANS on condition of anonymity.
Monserrate told IANS that the police complaint was a conspiracy against him.
“I had hired this girl to work in my Hallmark store because her parents came to me to look for a job. But she stole some money from the store cash counter and I had sacked her. This complaint is false. There is no question of my getting intimate with her,” Monserrate said.
Monserrate was elected to the St. Cruz constituency on a Congress ticket, but was sacked from the party after he started hobnobbing with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
{{/usCountry}}Monserrate was elected to the St. Cruz constituency on a Congress ticket, but was sacked from the party after he started hobnobbing with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
{{/usCountry}}He has been booked in the past for extortion. His son Rohit, was also arrested for allegedly raping a minor German girl five years back, but was later acquitted.