The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday demanded the immediate resignation of Punjab Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak over allegations of sexual misconduct against him. The saffron party also said there should be an impartial probe conducted into the entire matter. This comes after the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) issued a notice to the Punjab government earlier on Friday. The NCSC asked the government to submit a report on the allegations against Kataruchak after a letter was sent to it by the victim, who has also accused the Minister of threatening him and his family.
While speaking at a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, as quoted by news agency PTI, "This is a terrifying story of sexual exploitation, sexual predatory behaviour, sexual grooming, debauchery and most of all, moral turpitude and moral degradation to the lowest levels."
He also said Kataruchak has exploited a "Dalit boy" while citing the allegations levelled by the victim against the Minister. "We demand the immediate resignation of the minister and an impartial probe in which the state government has no role," Poonawalla said.
Poonawalla further said Kataruchak is a "heavyweight" minister in the Punjab government and has "a very close relationship" with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal.
He also said, as quoted by PTI, "So long as Kataruchak is a minister in the Punjab government, there cannot be an impartial probe into allegations against him."
Meanwhile, NSCN said on Friday Kataruchak had allegedly approached the victim "by sending him a friend request on Facebook in 2013-14 and when he accepted it, Kataruchak allegedly started making advances", as cited by PTI.
However, the victim said, "Since he was an influential person, he had promised me a government job due to which I remained mum. I was too young at that time to understand anything. But, his sexual excesses continued till 2021.”
The victim also revealed the Minister met him for the last time on Diwali in 2021 and he neither provided him with a job nor did he meet the victim after that, as reported by PTI.
Commenting on the matter, the victim also said, "I am now on the run and submitting the complaint in Delhi as the Minister is threatening to harm me or my family.”
Taking cognisance of the victim's complaint, the NCSC has issued a notice to the Punjab government and asked the chief secretary and the director general of police to investigate the matter. It has also asked the government to submit an action taken report "immediately" through post or email.
Amid all this, the commission has also asked the government to provide security to the victim.