Party leader Sadhna Bharti questions the silence of Jyotiraditya Scindia, MP from Guna, on the shameful incident
NEW DELHI — The Congress has sharply criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Madhya Pradesh over its failure to arrest the priest who has been charged with rape of a disabled girl. The priest is reported to be absconding for over a year now. The party also questioned the silence of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Lok Sabha member from Guna, the constituency where the incident occurred over a year ago.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here on Thursday, party leader Sadhna Bharti revealed that the priest identified as Brajesh Sharma had repeatedly raped a disabled OBC girl for a long period, threatening to kill her father if she resisted.
She disclosed that the rape survivor had also delivered a child. The child, she said, is now over one year old but the rapist priest has still not been arrested.
Ms Bharti said that the rape survivor had been left to fend for herself as she had not got any aid or support from anyone. She said the government at the Centre did not provide her any assistance from the ‘Nirbhaya Fund’, which is meant for supporting such victims.
She disclosed that when she spoke to the local police officer, he told her that the priest possessed multiple identity cards. She wondered how such a person was allowed to serve as a priest in a temple.
Questioning Scindia’s silence, Ms Bharti asked him to intervener as the local MP and ensure justice for the survivor. She also questioned the silence of other senior BJP leader Ms Uma Bharti, saying that despite being from the OBC community herself, she had not helped the rape survivor in any manner.
