P J Joychen,TNN | Jun 13, 2014, 02.09 AM IST

 

 JAIPUR: A rape complaint filed some time back has returned to haunt Union minister of state Nihal Chand, the lone MP from Rajasthan to get a berth in Narendra Modi’s council of ministers. A lower court on Thursday issued summons to 17 people, including him in a sexual assault case.
The court order came following a revision petition by a 20-year-old woman at the metropolitan magistrate’s court (11) who accused her husband and his friends of sexually exploiting her. The court has asked all 17 of them to appear on August 20.The woman in her petition said she belongs to Abubsher in Sirsa district in Haryana and was married to one Om Prakash of Hanumangarh district on December 20, 2010.After marriage, the couple shifted to Jaipur and lived here at different places, including Vaishali Nagar. During this time, she was subjected to sexual exploitation by her husband and his friends, including the minister, she alleged.

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She said Om Prakash used to lace her food with sedatives. After she lost consciousness she was subjected to sexual abuse. She alleged that once, Om Prakash’s brother had also made sexual advances and when she informed her husband about this, he accepted that he was using her to advance his political and business interests.

Union minister of state Nihal Chand, right, the lone MP from Rajasthan to get a berth in Modi’s council of ministers.

The woman had filed a complaint in 2011 at Vaishali Nagar which named Nihal Chand as one of the persons who sexually exploited her.

The police, in 2012, had closed the case stating that there were discrepancies in the complaint forcing her to approach the court through a revision petition.

In the recently concluded 16th Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidate Nihal Chand defeated Congress pick Master Bhanwarlal Meghwal by 2,91,741 votes.