Gujarat cops book BJP MLA for rape after High Court order

Gandhinagar: An FIR on charges of rape and criminal intimidation was registered on Saturday against a BJP MLA from Gujarat following directions of the High Court.

The accused, Gajendrasinh Parmar, a former minister of state, was also booked under the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as the victim is a Dalit, the FIR stated.

The alleged incident occurred in July 2020.

The case was registered at Sector 21 police station in Gandhinagar under sections 376 (Punishment for rape) and 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, days after the High Court questioned the police for not registering an FIR on the victim's complaint against the MLA, who represents the Prantij Assembly seat in Sabarkantha district.

The complainant stated that Parmar had called her to the MLA quarters in Gandhinagar on July 30, 2020, and established physical relations with her on the pretext of marrying her.

She claimed in the FIR that the MLA, subsequently, started ignoring her phone calls. Upon attending her call once, he used casteist remarks and threatened to get the woman kidnapped and harassed if she talked about their relationship, the FIR stated.

In 2021, the woman moved a special criminal application in the high court, requesting that the police be directed to register an FIR.