Senior BSP leader accused of rape

The undergraduate student had lodged a complaint with the court stating that Prem Chand Gautam, a member of the SC/ST Commission, and his close relative Ram Kumar had been sexually exploiting her for the last one year.

She has also accused them of taking her nude photographs and preparing a CD of her. Ram Kumar’s wife Shama Parveen had also been accused of helping them. However, Gautam has said that the girl is blackmailing him.

“She had been demanding money from us and threatened that if we didn’t pay her, she would file a false case against us. When we did not agree, she lodged a complaint with the court,” said Gautam.

According to the complainant’s lawyer Sita Ram Arya, the case dates back to 2006, when Ram Kumar and his wife Shama Parveen started living near the house of the victim. Shama often visited the victim’s house and told her about a close relative, an influential BSP politician. She assured the victim of a job once the BSP came to power in the state.

In October 2006, Shama introduced her to a relative, Prem Chand Gautam, and invited the victim to her house, where she was raped.

Arya said the victim, in her complaint said that Prem Chand and Ram Kumar had also forced her to go with two senior politicians at a hotel in Muzaffarnagar.

“She also approached the police, but when it did not take up her complaint, she moved the court,” said Arya. The application was filed on September 9, 2007.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Sumit Chandra ordered lodging of an FIR, but the accused filed a revision application before the district judge who ordered the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Satish Chandra to hear the case.