Ratlam: Mining official in judicial custody

Ratlam(Madhya Pradesh): A court in Ratlam has sentenced a mining department official for demanding sexual favours from a woman five months ago, after her mine owner husband was found allegedly indulging in irregularities.

In the incident that had occurred in May, the official had initially demanded Rs 25k bribe from her husband, but later sought sexual favours from his wife instead. When his bail application came up for hearing on Tuesday, the court rejected it and sent him to judicial custody, a police official said on Wednesday. The mining official was posted in Barwani.

"When he was posted in Ujjain as in charge of the flying squad, he had registered a case against the mine owner in Ratlam after detecting some irregularities and demanded Rs 25k bribe from him in May this year for settling the case against him," the police official said.

"When the mine owner along with his wife and children reached a temple as decided earlier to hand over the money, the mining department official asked her husband to get water for him. In her husband's absence, he sought sexual favours from his wife in place of the bribe amount," the official added.

The accused repeated the offer in front of her husband. However, the couple later approached the police and lodged a complaint against him. Based on their complaint, a case of molestation was registered against him, the official said.

The accused had filed a bail application in the court. However, during the hearing on Tuesday, Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Jyoti Rathore rejected his plea and sent him to jail.

"As per the court order, the police sent the official to jail. He has been sent to judicial custody till November 2," women's police station incharge Rajshri Sisodia said.