Hiral Dave
Hindustan Times, Ahmedabad
Naliya gang rape

The victim was allegedly gang raped by nine men, including BJP members, in Naliya town of Gujarat’s Kutch.(Representative image)

A 24-year-old woman, who was allegedly gang raped by nine men, including BJP members, in Naliya town of Gujarat’s Kutch, has been accused of criminal breach of trust and cheating by her former husband.

The first class judicial magistrate SS Brahmbhatt asked Gujarat police earlier this week to file an FIR against the woman under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 419 (cheating by personation) and 504 (insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint filed by her ex-husband.

Kalpesh Momaya, a resident of Kutch, had moved court and alleged that his former wife cheated him by decamping with jewellery and cash to the tune of Rs 25,000 a day after they got married on January 31, 2016. They got divorced the next month and she remarried her first husband.

Momaya has also named the parents of the woman, a resident of Mumbai, and one Ismile Bhukhara of Kothara village in Abdasa taluka of Kutch in the complaint.

“An FIR will be registered against the rape victim once we receive the written copy of the court order,” Kutch (West) superintendent of police Makrand Chauhan told Hindustan Times.

The gang rape is also being investigated by Kutch (West) police under the supervision of CID (crime).

A couple of days after the local court’s order, the Gujarat government on Wednesday announced to hold a judicial probe into the rape case.

“We are committed to ensuring that all guilty are punished and no one is spared,” chief minister Vijay Rupani said in the state assembly after opposition Congress members voiced the demand, forcing frequent adjournments of the House.

The Congress has tried to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party over the gang rape case as four of the nine accused are BJP members, including two councillors.

 

According to the FIR filed by the woman in January this year at Naliya police station, she was raped on different occasions for more than a year since August 2015. She had come to her mother’s house at Kothara village from Mumbai looking for work. She got a job at an LPG distribution agency in Naliya run by BJP member Shantilal Solanki.

She alleged that in August 2015, Solanki called her to his home to give her salary. He allegedly spiked her cold drink and assaulted her with the help of two others who took turns to rape her.

They also filmed the sexual assault and used the tapes to blackmail her and rape her multiple times. She also alleged that Solanki along with 65 other men ran a sex racket in which they had exploited at least 35 women.

Besides Solanki, BJP workers Govind Parumalani, Ajit Ramvani and Vasant Bhanushali have been named in the FIR. Ramvani and Bhanushali are councillors of Gandhidham municipality. All four have been suspended from the primary membership of the BJP.

The case took a political turn after Congress hit the streets demanding a fair probe into the incident.

The Congress, which has claimed to have sex CDs of BJP leaders in connection with the same case, took out a rally from Naliya to Gandhinagar this week. The opposition party has also frequently disrupted assembly proceedings till the announcement of a judicial probe.http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/naliya-gang-rape-victim-faces-fir-govt-orders-judicial-probe-into-case/story-pICekM9MU459EngV1mDs6H.html