The allegations have rocked the Maharashtra politics with the NCP leader being asked to resign from his post by the opposition BJP.
Claiming he has been in a relationship with her sister for years, Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde has denied allegations of rape by a woman. The allegations have rocked the Maharashtra politics with the NCP leader being asked to resign from his post by the opposition BJP.
An aspiring singer, the 37-year-old woman had written to the Mumbai police commissioner on January 10, alleging that Mr Munde had repeatedly raped her in 2006. Tagging the top political leaders from Maharashtra including Sharad Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis in her tweet, the woman had claimed that she had approached the police earlier but her complaint was not accepted. The woman also said that her life was under threat.
Dhananjay Munde, the state minister for social justice, in a Facebook post, said he was being blackmailed by the rape accuser and her sister. He said that he had also filed a complaint with the police in November.
The NCP leader said he had been in a relationship with the woman’s sister since 2003 and has two children with her. The relationship was also accepted by his family, the 45-year-old added. “This matter was known to my family, wife and friends. In this mutual relationship, we were blessed with a son and a daughter. My family, wife and my children have also taken these kids as family and approved,” he wrote, adding, “This whole case has been created for blackmailing, false and defamation, so please don’t believe such charges (sic)”.
The BJP’s women’s wing, after the minister’s Facebook admission of his relationship with the woman, wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and demanded his sacking.
The woman’s allegations were part of a conspiracy against him, Mr Munde said, alleging that the blackmail started in 2019 and he had since not just gone to the police but had also requested the Bombay High Court to put on hold any defamatory content against him.
Mr Munde “must stay out from Maharashtra Cabinet till He gets Clean (sic)”, said Maharashtra BJP leader Kirit Somaiya.
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