Shiv Sena leader Raghunath Kuchik has been charged with raping a 24-year-old woman and forcing her to have an abortion, the police said on Thursday.
The leader, however, has denied the charges.
Alleging that the case was a political conspiracy to defame him, Kuchik told ANI, "The charges levelled at me in the FIR are fallacious, the case has been made up to malign me and my family, and it seems to be a honey-trap."
Kuchik, who is the general secretary of the Shiv Sena's labour wing, has been charged under Sections 376 (rape) and 313 (causing miscarriage without woman's consent) of the IPC on the basis of the woman's complaint.