Chhatarpur city on the boil over two alleged rape cases

Chhatarpur (Madhya Pradesh): An FIR registered on Friday in connection with an alleged rape against three persons including two members of Other Backward Classes (OBC) Mahasabha raised a storm in Chhatarpur city on Monday.

The FIR was registered at the Mahila police station against the general secretary of the organisation's state unit Narendra Kumar Patel and its district unit president Krishna Kumar Patel.

The FIR against the OBC leaders was sequel to an incident of rape in which a self-styled Baba was involved, and an OBC woman lodged a complaint against him.

In protest against the FIR, the Mahasabha members held a meeting at Chhatrasal Chowk in Chhatarpur city.

The protesters blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party's state unit president and local Member of Parliament, VD Sharma, for the incident and raised slogans against him.

A member of the national core committee of the Mahasabha Mahendra Singh Lodhi alleged that the BJP leaders were harassing the OBC members.

He further alleged that instead of giving justice to an OBC woman, the administration had registered a case against two leaders of the OBC and her husband.

He said that the people of the OBC community would launch a statewide agitation if the case was not worked out within a week.

How anger spread?

A woman of the OBC community lodged a complaint at the Khajuraho police station against a self-styled Baba who, in name of performing black magic on her for childbirth, violated her.

As another group supporting the Baba reached the police station, the cops did not register a complaint.

District president of the OBC Mahasabha, Krishna Kumar Patel, its state secretary Narendra Kumar Patel and others reached the police station for lodging a complaint against the Baba.

The police, however, registered the case on February 17. The woman also underwent medical examination within 24 hours of the incident.

After that, a few Hindu outfits launched a campaign against the woman on social media.

The case took a new turn on February 18 when another woman, a resident of Satai road in Chhatarpur, lodged a complaint at the Mahila police station against the secretary of the OBC Mahasabha, its district president and the husband of the woman who lodged a complaint against the self-styled god man.

In the complaint, she said that when she was returning home, those three persons took her to a nearby forest and raped her.

Superintendent of police Sachin Sharma said that a special investigation team has been set up to inquire into both the cases and a neutral probe will be done.