Rajasthan rape victim agitates for justice

A woman from Rajasthan's Dausa district, who was allegedly abducted and raped by an Indian Police Service officer, sat on a dharna in Jaipur along with her family members and Independent MP Kirori Lal Meena,  on Tuesday, after she was not allowed to meet Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at his residence.

Around 50 persons led by MP Meena are on the dharna at civil line railway crossing demanding justice for the victim. "Gehlot had given us appointment for the morning, but the police officer on duty at CM residence denied us entry," the victim's husband Khyali Ram Meena told media-persons in Jaipur.

The woman was allegedly abducted and taken to Noida in UP in January 1997 where she was allegedly raped by former DIG Madhukar Tandon, currently absconding, then posted in Police Headquarters.

Khyali, who was a police constable, registered a case against the IPS officer with Noida police station in Ghaziabad and subsequently with Bandikui police station in Dausa. "After that, I was continuously harassed by senior police officers and pressurised to withdraw the case. That time I was posted in police line Jaipur. They harassed me to such a limit that I was forced to left the job in 2002," Khyali said.

"Since then I have been seeking justice and have written to home minister, chief minister and prime minister," he said. Police said they had submitted the charge sheet in the case against Tandon, but by then he had absconded and was later declared fugitive. MP Meena said that the dharna would continue till Gehlot met the woman.