RAIPUR: An FIR has been lodged against the son of the leader of the Opposition in the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha in Raipur on the charge of rape after a complaint was lodged by a woman who hails from Janjgir-Champa district.
The complainant, who lodged a complaint at the Mahila police station, accused Palash Chandel — son of Chhattisgarh assembly leader of the Opposition and Janjgir Champa MLA Narayan Chandel — of raping her on the pretext of marriage.
An FIR has been lodged on the charges of rape and under the provisions of the SC/ST atrocities (Prevention) Act against the accused.
The woman, who works as a teacher, alleged that she was promised of marriage and Chandel had also got her child forcibly aborted after rape.
She had earlier submitted a written complaint to ST/SC commission in Raipur raising the issue and the matter was being investigated for the last few months.
The commission on Thursday handed over the case to the police and a zero FIR was lodged in Mahila thana of Raipur.
The case file was sent to Janjgir police for investigation and further action.
Belonging to OBC, Narayan Chandel has recently been appointed as LOP.
He had been continuously winning from Janjgir constituency and wields political clout in the region.
During the recent assembly by-poll in Bhanupratappur (ST) constituency, an alleged rape case came up against the BJP candidate Bhrahmanand Netam and police from neighbouring Jharkhand camped in the constituency during the campaign to detain the BJP leader.
However, the team was without his arrest following a stay order from Jharkhand high court.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
