Agartala: A day after raising allegations in the state assembly against Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath of threatening a rape victim for not going to the police, Congress legislator Sudip Roybarman on Tuesday sought action from the Chief Minister and BJP party.
“I have made detailed accounts of the incident and the involvement of the Law Minister to protect the rapist who happened to be a top BJP leader and Chairman of Gomati Co-operative Milk Union on the floor of assembly in presence of the Chief Minister and all the members, which was recorded in the assembly proceedings. Now, it’s the turn of CM and BJP party to decide the course of action,” Roybarman said.
He warned that the matter would not be left here if Chief Minister doesn’t take action against Nath – the minister of Law and Education, the matter would be referred to the highest level of the party and the Prime Minister besides, implicating him in the court of law.
Roybarman alleged in the assembly that a deserted woman had knocked on the door of the Lefunga police station of the Law Minister’s constituency a few days ago with a complaint rape against the BJP leader Samir Das, and his nephew Kashiram Das.
But police refused to accept the complaint, as Law Minister had directed them not to register the complaint, instead advising the victim to meet the minister to settle the dispute.
Later, Nath called the victim and warned her not to go to the police or divulge the incident to anybody, otherwise, her family will lose their existing employment, her son will be pushed out of the hostel and their life will be terrible in the future, Roybarman told the assembly releasing a video of the victim, which she had made before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Monday.
According to the statement of the rape victim, she was working in the house of accused Samir Das. Sometimes in December last year, she was raped by Das, which was witnessed by his nephew Kashiram.
Thereafter, Kashiram started blackmailing the lady and raped her several times in the house.
“When I went to the police station, I was asked to go later, and from the night I have been getting warning calls from different numbers. Finally, Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath advised me not to do police and court but rather to be mum considering the future. When I protested, he threatened me with dire consequences,” the victim was found saying in the video.
However, Ratan Lal Nath denied the charges and said that he was not aware of such an incident and added, “Roybarman was maligning me in the house for his vendetta. If the lady moves court, let’s hope the investigation will bring out the truth and the agenda behind it. But I am upset with the conduct of Sudip Roybarman in the assembly. Without knowing the details based on a video, how can a responsible MLA accuse a minister of such serious charges.”
