After MP’s honey-trap charge, woman held; no rape case filed yet

A complaint and a counter-complaint were filed within hours at the same police station by a woman lawyer and a parliamentarian. The woman alleged rape, and the parliamentarian accused her of extortion.

Police registered an FIR on the Lok Sabha MP’s complaint and arrested her on Tuesday but are yet to file a case of rape, as alleged by the woman, against parliamentarian KC Patel, a Lok Sabha MP from Gujarat.

On Tuesday, when HT spoke to senior officers and asked why no rape case was filed, as the amended law makes it mandatory for the police to register a case in such a situation, police said that they found the woman’s conduct “suspicious” after she refused to get herself examined medically to confirm rape.

Police said despite repeated requests, the woman refused medical examination. The woman reportedly also wrote to police on Thursday that she wanted her complaint to be kept as a record and that an FIR should not be filed.

The woman on Monday told reporters that the MP had sexually assaulted her but the police refused to register a case. “I was assaulted. I made a CD because he (MP) was threatening me and I wanted to keep it as a proof. Police refused to register my FIR so I had to move court,” she said.

Special commissioner of police (New Delhi) range, MK Meena, said on Monday, that the police had information about the woman levelling similar allegations in the past but later withdrew her complaint. Meena did not make any other comments on the case.

Police suspect, there may be more such cases filed by the woman, only to be withdrawn later. Patel has accused her of extortion.

“The MP approached us first with a complaint of extortion against her. The same day she came to us alleging she was raped by the MP. When the order to register an FIR was given, she gave it in writing that she was giving the complaint for police record and that no case should be made out. She even refused to get a medical done. She said she would return after a few days for further investigation and left,” a police officer said.

Police said that the woman then allegedly called the MP threatening that she had given a complaint to the police. “The MP approached us again saying that the woman called him again and issued threats. He alleged that the woman told him that she had filed a rape complaint against him and that he should pay up if he wanted to get out of the mess,” a police officer said.

The police said they further conducted an inquiry into the matter and found the woman’s behaviour suspicious. “On inquiry we found that she had got a case of rape registered against a Haryana MP in Tilak Marg in 2016 but later retracted from the statement when the case reached court. She told the magistrate that she was not in the right frame of mind when she filed that complaint. She did that after the MP agreed to pay. Looking at all these clues, we called her for questioning and after thorough probe, arrested her,” a police officer said.

When the order to register an FIR was given, she (the women) gave in writing that she was giving the complaint for police record and that no case should be made out. She even refused to get a medical done.