New Delhi: A BJP MLA and his son were booked after a woman accused the former of harassment and his son for alleged rape, news agency PTI reported. According to the report, an FIR has been registered against Laxmi Kant Verma, son of BJP MLA from the Fatehabad constituency in Agra, Chhotey Lal Verma, after a 36-year-old woman alleged that the MLA’s son had raped her back in 2003, when she was 17-years-old.
According to police, the woman, in her complaint, said that she was a friend of the MLA's daughter and would visit their house frequently. On November 16, 2003, Laxmi Kant Verma gave her a drink, allegedly laced with sedatives, and after she lost consciousness, he raped her, the woman further said.
The woman claimed that the accused had also recorded a video of the act and threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone about it, according to the complaint.
According to the report, the complainant said sometime later, Laxmi Kant Verma married her at a temple and got her a job as a receptionist at a cyber cafe in Agra that was owned by him and his friend. Their firstborn was a girl and as Laxmi Kant wanted the second child to be male, he forced her to get her pregnancy aborted. She later gave birth to a son, the woman said.
As per the FIR, Laxmi Kant Verma married another woman from Rajasthan in 2006 after forcing the complainant to divorce him.
The complainant said that the BJP MLA and other family members of the accused were responsible for her ordeal.
According to Tajganj Police Station SHO, Bhupendra Baliyan, "The complaint has been registered against Laxmi Kant Verma under sections 376 (rape), 313 (causing miscarriage), 323 and 328 (causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), 494 (bigamy) of the Indian Penal Code."
It is to be noted that Chotey Lal Verma is currently the BJP MLA, after defeating Samajwadi Party candidate Roopal Dixit. Earlier, he had been MLA from Fatehabad on BSP ticket.