Rajasthan orders inquiry into 'rape', suicide by Jain muni

Justice V S Kokje of the Rajasthan high court will inquire into allegations of rape against a Jain Shewetambar muni and his subsequent suicide in Bhinmal town of Jalera district.

Issuing a notification to this effect, the state government said the one-man inquiry commission will submit its report within three months.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat announced in the state assembly on September 12 that a judicial inquiry has been ordered into the episode.

As per the first information report lodged by the rape victim at the Bhinmal police station on September 6, Muni Lokendra Vijay raped her on September 4.

The muni was taken to the police station for interrogation and released later following protests from the Jain community. The muni committed suicide on September 10 by cutting his veins and consuming acid.

The National Commission for Women has also constituted a five-member inquiry committee to hold a parallel inquiry into the rape case and another incident of gang rape of a 26-old girl in a J C Bose hostel room in the Rajasthan University campus in Jaipur on September 5.

UNI