Weeks after the news of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar allegedly raping a girl in Unnao shocked the country, another saffron party leader was arrested on Tuesday, 22 May, for allegedly raping a woman in Varanasi.
The BJP leader in question, Kanhaiya Lal Mishra, is reportedly the former district unit president of the BJP in Bhadohi and is close to the party state president Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey.
DNA reported that Mishra had come into contact with the victim five months ago. He had promised to get her a government job, and invited her to Varanasi. The victim, accordingly, arrived in Varanasi on Monday, 21 May, and was staying in Pandeypur with a relative.
According to the report, Mishra had allegedly asked the victim to meet him at a guest house in the Sigra area of Varanasi. He had reportedly booked a room under his name and introduced the woman to the staff as his daughter.
Following this, he “made a call” to a “government official” in the pretext of setting up an interview for a job.
Rape survivor to DNAI waited for half-an-hour in the room. Suddenly, he grabbed me and pulled me down on the bed and raped me.
The victim instantly raised an alarm, after which the staff forced open the door and allegedly saw Mishra forcing himself on her, the report added.
“We were shocked to find a half undressed Netaji raping the woman,” one of the members of the staff told DNA.
The staff then contacted the Sigra police. The police then took Mishra and the victim to the police station, where the latter filed a complaint, DNA reported.
However, according to The Times of India, the victim had later approached the police, filed a complaint, and appraised an inspector, Satish Singh, about the chain of events. Following this, the police raided the guest house, found Mishra, and arrested him.
(With inputs from DNA, The Times of India and The Quint)
