Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s legal cell in the city protested on Wednesday against the mishandling of the minor gang-rape case outside the Telangana high court’s premises. The rape, which occurred on May 28 in Jubilee Hills, has garnered significant media attention.
Around 50 lawyers partook in the protest and demanded a CBI inquiry or a sitting high court judge to probe the issue.
There were however certain claims made by the protestors the credibility of which Siasat.com has attempted to clarify.
Claims made at the protest:
Advocate Prasanna, one of the protestors at the site, told this reporter that the state home minister Mahmood Ali should resign as his grandson was involved in the case. The statement comes four days after BJP MLA M Raghunandan Rao alleged that the minor’s rape had taken place after a bachelor’s party thrown by the grandson of Home Minister Mahmood Ali.
However, aside from initial rumours, no police official has corroborated the same and in fact, has rubbished the statements as mere rumours.
Further, the Abids police have booked a case against a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Raghunandan Rao for allegedly revealing the identity of a survivor in a minor gang rape case. The case was booked under Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Protestors further remarked that an AIMIM MLA’s son was one of the accused. Despite various media reports and BJP state president Bandi Sanjay alleging otherwise, this statement too has no credible source of information. On June 3, Joel Davis, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) West Zone, stated that an MLA’s son is believed to be part of the group, but he may not have been involved in the gang rape. The DCP was unwilling to name a particular political party and as such the statement doesn’t hold weight.
BJP vs Police officials:
It was further claimed by the protestors that after the accused initially circulated the video of the assault in the car, the police were involved in the video going viral. Further, Prasanna was of the opinion that CV Anand was unaware of what was happening in the case.
A day earlier, at a press conference, Commissioner CV Anand accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of circulating the video.
“We didn’t have the footage of what happened in the car until the BJP released the video,” Anand stated. On the status of the Innova vehicle used for the crime, the Hyderabad police commissioner said that the car was a government-owned “official” vehicle.
The protest by the legal cell lasted twenty minutes and the protestors made statements similar to senior BJP leaders of the state.
Background of the case:
On May 28, a 17-year-old girl was gang-raped by five people and molested by another individual in an Innova in Jubilee Hills. Five of the accused are minors (Children in conflict with the law- CCL) while the first accused, Saduddin Malik is an adult.
The case has garnered significant attention in the city and among national media as the kin of influential politicians is said to be among the accused. The police have registered a case under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 9 and 10 of the POCSO act.
