Ranchi/Simdega (Jharkhand), Nov 14 Hours after an FIR was registered against Congress MLA Bhushan Bara on the charge of raping his minor domestic help, police said on Saturday that they booked two persons for allegedly abducting and coercing the girl into making a “false” statement against the legislator.
The Congress is a constituent of the state’s ruling JMM-led coalition.
The girl’s grandfather lodged a complaint at Patratanr police station in Simdega district on Friday, naming two men who allegedly abducted the 15-year-old girl three days ago and pressured her into making a false statement of rape against the two-time MLA, Simdega Superintendent of Police Shrikant S Khotre said.
“We have booked both the accused under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the POCSO Act,” Khotre told PTI.
One of the two men is a content creator associated with a YouTube channel.
The police officer said the case is being investigated and further action would be taken based on the evidence gathered against the accused.
Babulal Marandi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly, said, “Reports have emerged that a case has been filed against a journalist, who exposed the incident. It is a direct attack on democracy and independent journalism. The accused MLA is openly flexing his muscle, and there are reports that the journalist is receiving threats..
“Whoever filed the case against that journalist, I believe that person is also an accused because handing over a small girl for domestic work is a crime as well,” the BJP leader said.
“I urge the police to keep these things in mind as well. Police should not harass a journalist who supported a helpless girl,” Marandi said.
The BJP will fight this battle with full strength and will keep raising its voice till justice is delivered to a tribal daughter and the journalist’s safety is ensured, he added.
“The girl came to me and narrated the incident… I told her she would have to go to the police station and file a complaint. That had to be done; there was no other way,” the former CM said.
The LoP alleged that law and order was deteriorating in the state.
“No one is safe anywhere in the state, be it in a police station or in jail,” Marandi claimed, referring to recent incidents in the state.
Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee media in-charge Rakesh Sinha hit back at Marandi, saying the LoP seemed less concerned about law and order, women’s safety and minors’ rights, and more anxious to politically defame the MLA.
He said it was extremely unfortunate to carry out political character assassination under the guise of serious allegations and to make a minor a weapon of political rhetoric.
“Marandi should first answer where the girl met him? Who introduced her to him? Why is Babulal Marandi not demanding action against those who made the minor’s identity public in a sensitive case? Does the leader of the opposition not know that revealing the identity, face or privacy of a minor is a serious matter under the law?” Sinha said.
Meanwhile, CPI(ML) Liberation, a constituent of the JMM-led coalition government in the state, demanded the immediate arrest of the accused Congress MLA.
Manoj Bhakt, the party’s state secretary, said there should be an impartial and detailed probe into the matter.
“No one is above the law. The circumstances and allegations the girl narrated in her complaint can only be established after a thorough probe,” he said.
It is the state government’s responsibility to stop the accused from flexing his power so that he cannot affect the victim girl, and therefore, the MLA must be arrested immediately, Bhakt said.
The Press Club of Ranchi, in a statement, condemned the lodging of an FIR against the journalist who reportedly brought the incident to light. The club demanded an impartial review of the case and that he should not be targeted.
The girl’s statement was recorded before a judicial magistrate under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) on Saturday, Duhuwa police station officer-in-charge Anil Tiwari said.
The girl, a resident of Simdega district, had alleged that Bara had raped her at his residence on August 5, following which she became pregnant.
She also claimed that she later learnt during a medical examination that she suffered a miscarriage.
The girl told reporters that she was brought to Ranchi by the MLA’s family in May on the promise of enrolment in a school, but was instead made to do domestic work at his official residence.
Following this, the police registered an FIR against the legislator under the POCSO Act and the Juvenile Justice Act at the Dhurwa police station in Ranchi.
Bara, a two-term MLA, dismissed the allegations on Friday, calling them “completely false and misleading”.
He claimed that the case was fabricated by people expelled from the Congress.
“Everything will be clear after investigation,” he said, questioning why the girl had not filed a complaint immediately after the alleged incident.
The opposition BJP on Friday demanded the MLA’s immediate arrest, alleging that women were unsafe under the JMM-led government in the state.
Meanwhile, activists of RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) burnt an effigy of the Congress party during their protest in Khunti district.
ABVP’s national secretary Virendra Singh Solanki, in a statement, said the incident is unfortunate and condemnable, and demanded speedy investigation and security for the victim and her family.
ABVP’s Jharkhand unit secretary Prakash Tuti said the process of providing justice to the victim should not be affected under political pressure.
(PTI News)
