The son of a Rajasthan Congress MLA and four others have been booked for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl belonging to Dausa district in the state, police said on Saturday.
Attacking the Congress government, the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed there is no rule of law in Rajasthan and the incident has put a question mark on the law and order situation of the state.
The incident also prompted the National Commission for Women to ask the Rajasthan Police to conduct a 'fair probe' into the incident and arrest all accused at the earliest while ensuring the protection of the victim.
Police have identified the key accused as Deepak Meena, son of Congress MLA Johari Lal Meena from Rajgarh assembly constituency in Alwar district.
According to police, a case of rape was also registered against Johari Lal Meena in 2019, but after a probe by the CB-CID the allegations made by the woman were found to be false.
In a defensive mode, the Congress in New Delhi said it would take stern action against any party member accused of criminal activity and not spare the individual irrespective of his position, 'unlike the BJP'.
Station House Officer Nathu Lal of the Mandawar police station in Dausa district earlier said one of the five accused, identified as Vivek Sharma, was also booked for extorting a sum of Rs 15 lakh cash and jewellery items by threatening the victim to upload the video of her gangrape on social media.
"A case has been registered against three named accused, including Rajgarh MLA's son Deepak Meena. Two others have also been booked for gang rape and other sections of the IPC," he added.
He said the case was registered on Friday on the basis of a complaint lodged by the minor girl's family members.
Medical examination of the victim has been done and her statement recorded, he added.
The SHO said the incident happened in February 2021 when the accused took the girl to a hotel on Mahwa-Mandawar Road and committed the crime.
They also made an obscene video to threaten her, he added.
The matter came to the light during the probe into a complaint lodged by the girl's family members after the cash and jewellery went missing from the house. Family members had initially lodged a complaint of theft.
A probe into the matter found the involvement of Sharma following which the victim mustered courage to share her ordeal with her mother, the SHO said.
Johari Lal Meena said the allegations against his son were 'baseless' and part of a 'political conspiracy' against him and his family.
The BJP, however, targeted the Congress government over the issue.
"When allegations of rape are made against the son of a Congress MLA, not only is Rajasthan ashamed, but raises questions on the law and order situation of the state," BJP state president Satish Poonia said.
"In one year, 6,337 rape cases have been reported in the state. It seems that the rule of law has ended," he claimed.
Meanwhile, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party would take action after the investigation into the alleged crime committed by the party MLA's son.
The Congress also attacked the BJP and alleged that the saffron party protects its own people even if they are accused of rape or crushing innocent farmers under their car.
Former Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2019 for raping a girl while Union Minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra is one of the key accused in a case related to killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.
"I want to assure everybody, whosoever you may be, the Congress party will not protect 'Sengars' of the world. You cannot, in the Congress party, trample farmers and remain Union Minister and cohabit with Narendra Modi ji (prime minister) and Amit Shah ji (Union home minister)," Surjewala said.
"We will take stern action as per law and after an investigation irrespective of who the accused may be," he said when asked about the son of gang rape incident in Rajasthan.
