After being arrested in connection with the torture and murder of his maid-servant, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) parliamentarian Dhananjay Singh has been booked for raping a 42-year-old married woman, police said Thursday.
Fresh trouble seems to be on the cards for BSP MP Dhananjay Singh after a 42-year-old woman lodged a complaint against him of rape and criminal intimidation in New Delhi, police said today.
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"The woman, a railway employee, has alleged that she was sexually exploited by the MP at her house in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar Phase-I several times between July 2005 and March 2009. "She was continuously raped by Singh at gunpoint and threatened with dire consequences if she reported the matter," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), Ajay Kumar.
"We have registered a case under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC against Singh. We are taking the victim for a medical examination today and her statement will be recorded by a magistrate under Section 164 of CrPC," Kumar added.
The woman told police that the first time she met the MP at her residence in February 2005 was when her husband invited him over for lunch.
"After the lunch party, the MP started visiting the victim's home in the absence of her husband. The victim opposed him, but he continued visiting her residence and started forcing her to enter into an illicit relationship with him. In July 2005, she was raped the first time by the MP at her house, after being threatened at gunpoint," the officer said.
According to the police, the woman did not report the matter earlier as she had been threatened of dire consequences if she spoke of the matter to anyone.
The victim's statement will be recorded under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (examination of a victim of rape) at Karkardooma court Monday.
"The investigation in the case has been launched and Dhananjay Singh might be questioned considering this case, if needed," said the officer.
The latest complaint against the MP from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh was lodged last night at the Pandav Nagar police station in East Delhi.
Singh is currently in judicial custody after he was charged with destruction of evidence and violation of the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act in the case involving the death of a maid at his Delhi residence allegedly after she was subjected to torture.
The MP and his wife Jagriti were arrested on November 5 in connection with the death of Rakhi, their domestic help, and the alleged "merciless" torture by them of another domestic help, a minor.
Rakhi's body, with injury marks on her legs, chest and arms, was recovered from Singh's South Avenue residence on the evening of November 4.
The minor domestic help told police that Jagriti used to regularly beat them up. The domestic helps were allegedly tortured and thrashed by Jagriti with sticks, iron rods, clothes iron and even metallic deer horns.
The MP has numerous cases pending against him in Lucknow and Jaunpur, including those of murder.
At Jaunpur's Sikrara police station alone, history sheet number 12 A lists 11 cases against him in 1998.
When Uttar Pradesh director general (health) Bachchi Lal was shot dead in 2001, Dhananjay was arrested for murderous conspiracy, but was later acquitted.
In 2011, he was arrested over the murders of a contractor and a tea stall owner, and later got bail.u00a0