Arrest rape accused BJP MLA by March 27: Mevani in Gujarat Assembly
Mevani made the statement from the floor of Gujarat Assembly while opposing a proposal to thank the Governor for his address to the House
3 min read
A former minister in the Gujarat government, Parmar is the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Prantij constituency of Sabarkantha district. (Express File) Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani on Friday challenged the Gujarat government to arrest BJP MLA Gajendrasinh Parmar, who is facing charges of rape and other related offences, by March 27.
Mevani made the statement from the floor of Gujarat Assembly while opposing a proposal to thank the Governor for his address to the House and raising the issue of women’s safety in Gujarat.
On the issue of women’s safety, Mevani first mentioned an incident of Panchmahal district from a few years ago when a Dalit girl’s gangrape case was allegedly torn off by some police officials from the FIR book, allegedly at the behest of some local persons from a political party after they realised that three people from the outfit were named accused in the FIR.
Mevani said that the Gujarat government did not become a complainant against the policemen and only initiated departmental inquiry against them. Mevani further said that an FIR in the matter was registered only after a Dalit leader, Valjibhai Patel, raised the issue and “fought till the end”.
“Is this how women are respected in Gujarat?” Mevani asked.
He then said, “And therefore, I want to tell the state government: Before this Assembly (session) ends on March 27 and by the time the sun sets, arrest the BJP leader, Gajendrasinh Parmar, who is a rape accused. I challenge the Gujarat government from this forum.”
“A person who (allegedly) commits rape, whichever party he may belong, why does the state government not arrest him?” he asked.
A former minister in the Gujarat government, Parmar is the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Prantij constituency of Sabarkantha district.
The Gujarat government registered an FIR against Parmar at Sector 21 Police Station of Gandhinagar in October last year after the matter went to Gujarat High Court. The FIR was registered under the charges of rape and criminal intimidation and sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
According to the FIR, the complainant had alleged that Parmar had called her to his MLA quarters in Gandhinagar on July 30, 2020, and established physical relations with her on the pretext of marrying her. She alleged in the FIR that the MLA, subsequently, started ignoring her phone calls. Upon attending her call once, he allegedly used casteist remarks and threatened to get the woman kidnapped and harassed if she talked about their relationship, as per the complaint.
Sources said that Parmar has been absent from the current budget session of Gujarat Assembly so far.
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