A Delhi Police team that reached Rajasthan's capital Jaipur to arrest the son of a state minister accused of raping a 23-year-old woman has said that the accused is on the run, reported NDTV.
According to the report, the police team comprising 15 members, visited two residences of Rajasthan Minister Mahesh Joshi, but couldn't find his son Rohit at the two properties.
"Our teams are conducting a search to locate Rohit Joshi, who has been on the run."An unnamed officer quoted by NDTV.
While the team couldn't locate Rohit Joshi, they plastered a copy of the summon outside his house – according to which he must appear before the Delhi Police before 18 May.
Congress leader Mahesh Joshi is the Minister for Public Health Engineering in the Congress' Rajasthan government, which is led by Chief Minister Ashok gehlot.
What the Complainant Said
In her complaint, the woman alleged the minister's son raped her on several occasions between 8 January 2021 and 17 April 2022 and also promised to marry her.
The woman said she met Rohit Joshi on Facebook in 2021 and had been in contact with him since then. The two first met in Jaipur, and he allegedly invited her to Sawai Madhopur on 8 January 2021.
The woman alleged that the minister's son spiked her drink and took advantage of her during their first meeting. According to the FIR, when she woke up the next morning, he showed her nude photographs and videos, which worried her.
She also alleged that Rohit Joshi forced himself upon her during another meeting in Delhi.
She further stated that she found out on 11 August 2021 that she was pregnant with his baby and alleged that he forced her to take a pill, but she didn't.
The Delhi Police had registered a zero First Information Report (FIR), with a senior Delhi Police officer saying that the Rajasthan Police has been informed about the FIR and will further investigate the matter. A zero FIR can be registered anywhere in the country.
It had added that the case was registered on 8 May at a police station in North District under sections 376 (rape), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc with intent to commit an offence), 312 (causing miscarriage), 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her for marriage, etc), 377 (unnatural offences), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
(With inputs from NDTV.)
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