DEHRADUN: A case that stirred Uttarakhand politics nearly 23 years ago has returned to the spotlight after Indira Devdi alias Jenny released a video accusing political parties and leaders of using her name to trade allegations.
After remaining publicly silent for years, Jenny said she would soon speak about what happened to her in 2003 and make documents and other evidence available. She said no leader had tried to understand her experience in all these years, but politicians were now invoking her name to target one another.
“Stop doing politics in my name,” she said in the video. “No one asked what happened to me or what circumstances I went through. Now, after all these years, people are making allegations and passing remarks about me.”
Jenny said she would present her account herself and urged people to give her time to do so. “I know what happened to me. I will come before you with the facts and tell you what happened. Who are you to make comments about me? Please stop,” she said.
Her video has intensified a war of words between senior Congress leader and former cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Mahendra Bhatt. Rawat has described the renewed focus on the case as a political conspiracy against him, while Bhatt has criticised the Congress leader and his party.
The Congress, meanwhile, has accused the BJP of reviving the old case to divert attention from the murder of Ankita Bhandari. The rival claims have brought the long-running Jenny case back into the political debate in the state.
Jenny took particular exception to her and her child being dragged into the political argument over DNA tests. She questioned why leaders were discussing tests involving her family without first hearing her account.
“Some are talking about getting one person's DNA tested, while others are talking about someone else's,” she said. “But no one is trying to listen to me. Who are these leaders to raise questions about my child and my life?”
She said political statements about her personal life and character were hurtful and undermined her dignity. “The truth about my life is known to me,” she said, urging politicians to stop using her name to score points against one another.
“I will not just speak about what happened; I will also place evidence before you,” she said, adding that the material could reveal the truth about some prominent figures currently involved in the political debate.
The case dates back to December 2002, when Indira Devdi alias Jenny, a resident of Assam, arrived in Dehradun. In June 2003, she gave birth to a child, and Harak Singh Rawat was alleged to be the father.
Then Chief Minister Narain Dutt Tiwari ordered an Assembly probe, following which Rawat resigned as a minister. The CBI began its investigation in July 2003. However, DNA test results did not match, and Rawat was given a clean chit in 2004.
The controversy resurfaced after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami referred to the case, followed by remarks from BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt and Jenny's video promising to reveal the “truth with proof”.