3 BJP leaders in Mau booked for threatening woman to drop rape case, party rejects charge

While Santosh Singh is the BJP’s Mau district vice-president, Himanshu Rai is the party’s mandal president, and Kanhaiya Tiwari is the district convener of Shakti Kendra.

Additional Superintendent of Police, Mau, Anoop Kumar said, “The investigation into the matter has begun, and action will be taken on the basis of the evidence gathered.”

Sources in the police said that the viral video related to the incident would also be examined in detail as part of the investigation.

When contacted, BJP’s Mau district unit president, Ramashrya Maurya, denied the threat allegations and said that the three leaders had visited the area to take part in a panchayat convened to resolve the dispute between the woman and the accused youth, and not to intimidate or pressure her into withdrawing the case.

“It is not a crime to participate in a panchayat, where people usually sit together and try to settle matters amicably. The three leaders have no personal connection with either the victim or the accused,” Maurya said, adding there was nothing improper in the actions of the three leaders.
He further claimed that the panchayat was not held at the victim’s residence but at another location.

Referring to the viral video, Maurya said there was “nothing serious or objectionable” in it.
According to police, the woman had lodged a complaint with the police on January 23, alleging that 24-year-old Ankit Singh, who was working with her on a contractual basis in a government department, had sexually assaulted her on the pretext of marriage.

Following the lodging of the complaint, the police arrested Ankit Singh on rape charges the next day, on January 24, and produced him before a court, which subsequently sent him to judicial custody.

According to police, the accused and the woman had been working in the department for nearly two years since 2023.

On January 26, the victim submitted another complaint, alleging that three men visited her residence and pressured her to settle the matter and withdraw the case. She further claimed that they threatened to kill her and her family if she refused to comply.

Police, meanwhile, confirmed that the three BJP leaders visited the woman’s residence.