Mumbai Mayor and Shiv Sena leader Kishori Pednekar recently condemned the BJP for its inaction over sexual assault allegations made by a woman member of the party against a male colleague.
"I'll meet the victim and meet police officers over this matter. Where are BJP leaders now? The victim sought help from MLAs and MPs of BJP but to no avail," ANI quoted her saying.
According to Mumbai Police, the victim filed a case on Wednesday against the accused, identified as Prateek Salvi under section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
"The victim alleged that the accused is a BJP worker in Mumbai's Borivali West. On August 15, he called her to meet a corporator of the party in the BJP office. When she reached the office, he sexually assaulted her," police said.
The accused has been absconding since the victim registered a case against him, police said.
Further investigation is underway and a search is on for the absconding.
The mayor's statements come amid a letter war between Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the issue of crimes against women in the state.
Days after Koshyari wrote a letter to Thackeray for convening a special session of the state Assembly against the backdrop of the Sakinaka rape and murder, the CM on Monday hit back, saying the governor should request the Centre to call a session of Parliament to discuss issues concerning the safety of women and growing attacks on them.
In his letter to the governor, Thackeray gave figures of crimes against women in BJP-ruled states, including Uttarakhand, the home state of Koshyari. Thackeray stated that such "instructions" by the governor could stoke a new controversy" and are damaging to the democratic parliamentary procedures.
