NCP suspends legislator over rape charge

An embarrassed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Saturday suspended party legislator Dilip Wagh, who is accused of raping a 22-year-old woman, an official said.

An NCP spokesperson here confirmed Wagh's suspension but declined to comment on the issue further.

Wagh, the legislator from Pachora in Jalgaon district, and his secretary Mahesh Mali have been booked for allegedly raping a woman at a government guest house in Nashik Feb 21.

Wagh, son of Omkar Wagh -- a senior politician and a two-time legislator from the same constituency -- is now on the run, and this has prompted the party to initiate the disciplinary proceedings against him, NCP sources said.

This is the second major loss of face for the NCP in recent months after its MP Padamsinh Patil was arrested on the charge of murdering his cousin and Congress leader Pavan Raje Nimbalkar in 2006. He is currently out of jail on bail.

According to Nashik police, Wagh and Mali are said to have lured the girl from Aurangabad to Nashik on the pretext of giving her a job.

When she reached Nashik Feb 21, Wagh and Mali raped her in a guest house where they were staying. The next day, the girl registered a police complaint and the law enforcers swung into action.

With the budget session of the legislature starting here in a fortnight, the NCP has moved into damage control mode by suspending Wagh.

After the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena opposition combine flayed the Democratic Front government of attempting to shield the legislator, Home Minister R.R. Patil said the police were probing the case and it would be done impartially.