A woman from West Bengal was allegedly raped by two AAP leaders when she was going to join the farmer protest site at the Tikri border, Delhi. Now, a report published in Dainik Bhaskar says that activist Yogendra Yadav, who currently doubles up as a ‘farmer leader’, and is also a member of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, knew about the incident.
The news daily cites the woman’s father to contend that Yadav was aware of the brutalities meted out on his daughter, and yet he turned a blind eye to it. The report says that Yadav was in touch with the woman since April 24, before her death, and was aware of her predicament. However, he did not inform the police about the incident, which raises the question if he wanted to hide the misdeeds of the accused.
Woman who died of COVID at Tikri border protest site was raped and blackmailed
The matter came to light after the father of the woman filed a complaint based on which an FIR was registered by the Police under Sections 120B, 342, 354, 365, 376D and 506. As per the police, they have formed a team to track down two of the accused in the case.
As per the complaint, on April 10, the woman, aged around 25 years, came to Tikri border protest site from West Bengal with a group to join the farmers’ protest against the recently enacted agriculture laws. On April 26, she was admitted to a hospital in the Jhajjar district after showing Covid symptoms. Vijay Kumar, Police Officer at Bahadurgarh Police Station, said, “She died on April 30. Her father has filed a case of rape against two men.”
Kumar further added that the complaint filed by her father mentioned that she was raped by two men of the group that came to support the farmers’ protest. The whole story was narrated by the woman to her father over the phone as per the complaint. Kumar said, “She died during treatment. The hospital authorities have told us they treated her as a Covid patient. We have applied for documents, which are awaited and only after we get them can we confirm if her death was Covid-related.”
Complaint filed by victim’s father
In his complaint, the father named six persons identified as Anil Malik, Anup Singh Chanaut, Ankur Sangwan, Kavita Arya, Jagdish Brar and Yogita Suhag, who went to West Bengal on behalf of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha. All of them have been named in the FIR. As per the father’s complaint, and his daughter met them, and his daughter showed a desire to join the protests. She left with them on April 11 from Howrah Station.
Connection of the case with Aam Aadmi Party
As per reports, Anup Singh, one of the accused, was an active member of the Aam Aadmi Party from the Hisar region. AAP MLA Sushil Kumar has confirmed his involvement with the party. Another accused, Anil Malik is an AAP member in Delhi. However, Kumar claimed he did not have any information about him. These two were active at Farmer Protests from the beginning under the banner of the Kisan Social Army. Since the woman died in hospital, Anup has been missing from the protest site.
