M A I N   N E W S

INLD MLA booked for beating up ‘rape’ victim
Geetanjali Gayatri/TNS

Chandigarh, October 28
Sitting Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA from Loharu Dharampal Obra and his wife Sheela were booked by the Haryana Police for allegedly threatening and beating up a physically challenged 30-year-old Dalit rape victim and her husband of Obra village while using casteist remarks against them.

In the case registered by the Bhiwani police last night, Obra’s nephew Rajinder was booked on charges of raping the complainant and making video clips of the “act”.

According to the FIR registered at the Behal police station, they have been booked under Section 376, 323, 506 and 292 of the IPC for rape, criminal intimidation and obscenity. Provisions of the SC/ST Act have also been invoked against them.

The “victim” alleged that she had been used as a “sex slave” by Obra’s nephew for nearly four months - from October 2011 to February 2012 - while the MLA and his wife had allegedly beaten up and threatened the couple of “dire consequences” if they reported the matter to the police.

Speaking to The Tribune over the phone, the victim’s husband said that the “exploitation” dated back to October 2011 when Rajinder, also from the same village, first forced himself on the former’s wife while she was sleeping in her house.

“I used to work in Rajasthan and was away from home. He not only raped my wife who is 80 per cent physically challenged, but even took a video of her. Before leaving, he warned her to keep quiet about the incident and make herself available to him if she did not want the video clip to be made public. He even threatened to kill me if she opened her mouth,” the husband claimed.

According to the FIR, this went on with the mother of three children till February when the husband returned to the village permanently.

“When she told me how she had been exploited in my absence by the accused - a Jat - we decided to lodge a complaint. However, the MLA stepped in and called us over to his place. He hurled the choicest of abuses at us before he and his wife began beating us up. They even made casteist remarks and repeated their warning to bury the matter.”

The husband maintains that as a result to this intimidation, they dropped the idea of lodging a police complaint. “However, they continued to send goons to threaten and ridicule us. When we couldn’t take it anymore, we mustered all our courage and tried approaching the police on May 27, but were beaten up again.

“Later, a DSP called us to Siwani and made us sign some papers. It probably was some compromise because the MLA told us that the matter was closed and we should keep quiet,” he maintained.

The husband maintains that on October 20, he saw 20-odd men waiting at his brother’s place. “I realised we needed to run if we wanted to live. We scaled the wall and went to Hisar. There, we managed to meet the Inspector General of Police who assured us of action. Now, we are back in our house under police protection. The medical examination of my wife will take place tomorrow,” he said.

Meanwhile, the MLA claimed that there was no truth in the complaint which he said was “motivated” to tarnish his reputation. “I have asked the district police chief to come and investigate. The couple is lying and the husband is a drunkard. People of the other political parties and a few villagers with vested interest are behind this. I know this man since ours is a small village but I have never seen his wife. This is all a fabricated story,” he emphasised.