The Madhya Pradesh Police has been on the lookout for Congress’ Badnagar MLA Murli Morwal’s son Karan Morwal for months now. Karan Morwal has been absconding for the past six months in an alleged rape case.
In April this year, a functionary of Youth Congress from Indore had filed a police case against Karan Morwal accusing him of rape. The woman in her complaint revealed that Morwal on Valentine’s Day this year had taken her to Hotel Pride in Indore. Upon reaching the hotel, the Congress leader’s son allegedly raped her after lacing her drink with sedatives.
The victim in her complaint had further said that she became good friends with Karan after meeting him at a political function in Indore last year. The two then met on several occasions when Morwal visited Indore.
He even met the victim’s siblings and promised to marry her. However, after the case surfaced in media, an audio call of an alleged conversation between the two went viral.
In this audio call which could not be verified by the media, Morwal was heard accusing the victim of blackmailing him while the victim accused him of physically assaulting her.
‘The woman was pressurizing my son to marry’
Dismissing the allegations levelled against his son, MLA Morwal of Badnagar Assembly in Ujjain had said that he had already met Indore DIG Manish Kapooriya a few days ago to apprise him of the situation. He also claimed to have complained about the woman who, he said, was pressuring his son to marry her.
“My son was already apprehensive that she might file a false rape case against him. So my son had also made a written complaint to Indore Deputy Inspector General of Police about this on April 1,” Morwal said in April.
Despite claiming that the woman had filed a false case, Morwal went into hiding leading the MP Police to launch a manhunt.
‘Will attach properties if he does not surrender’
After failing to nab Morwal, the Madhya Pradesh police in September had issued an ultimatum to the accused to surrender.
Mahila Police Station Inspector Jyoti Sharma in a statement to the media had said, “A local court has declared him (Karan Morwal) an absconder and has asked him to be present before it on September 28. We have gathered information about Karan’s properties and if he does not surrender on September 28, the process to attach his properties would begin.”
Additionally, the police had also announced a cash reward of Rs 5,000 for his arrest.
‘Will nab him before Diwali’
Sharma in another statement to the media in October said, “Many attempts have been made to arrest Karan Morwal who is an accused in the rape case of a woman worker of Congress party in Indore, but we could not find him.”
Reportedly, the police have conducted raids at several places in search of the accused, including his residence, farmhouse and other places after receiving a tip-off, but Morwal could not be traced.
While the police have now brought his younger brother (Shivam) for interrogation, Madhya Pradesh’s Home Minister Narottam Mishra has assured that the accused will be nabbed before Diwali.
In a video statement, Mishra urged Murli Morwal to present his son before the police to avoid escalation of the matter. He also declared an increase in cash reward on his arrest from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000.
रेप के मामले में फरार आरोपी कांग्रेस विधायक के बेटे करण मोरवाल पर इनाम 15 से बढ़ाकर 25 हजार किया जा रहा है।
— Dr Narottam Mishra (@drnarottammisra) October 20, 2021
करण मोरवाल ने अगर 2 दिनों में सरेंडर नहीं किया तो ऐसी कार्रवाई करेंगे जो प्रदेश में नजीर बन जाएगी।@mohdept pic.twitter.com/9vPgthHQhb
As per the report, the MLA has assured the officials that his son will present himself before the police soon.
Morwal has been booked under sections 376 (rape), 376(2)N (rape for more than one time), 376 (2) J, 506 (criminal intimidation) and 294 (obscene act at public places) of the Indian Penal Code.
‘Priyanka Gandhi ducks question on Morwal’
Priyanka Gandhi in a press conference in Lucknow on Tuesday announced the Congress party’s decision to give 40% tickets to women in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
“It is our promise that women would be a part of Uttar Pradesh politics,” Priyanka said talking about women empowerment.
However, when a journalist raised questions about the absconding Karan Morwal, he was asked to stick to the topic of the meeting and shunned. The journalist was left disappointed at a ‘women empowerment event’ on receiving no answer for the alleged rape of a young victim by a Congress leader’s son.
