JAIPUR: A police constable was arrested here on Sunday on charges of raping a pregnant woman on the pretext of recording her statement in connection with a case, officials said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Sanganer, Vinod Kumar Sharma said the woman's husband lodged an FIR against constable Bhagaram on Saturday night alleging that his wife was raped in front of their three-year-old son.
The constable, posted at Sanganer police station, was detained and later placed under arrest, the ACP said.
The husband alleged that Bhagaram took his pregnant wife and three-year-old son to a hotel room on Saturday for recording a statement in connection with a complaint registered by him on Friday against his neighbour.
The husband was at work when Bhagaram called the woman some distance away from her home on the pretext of recording her statement, police said, adding the accused constable took the woman and her three-year-old son on his motorcycle to a hotel.
The constable told the hotel staff that the woman needed to change her clothes and asked for a room, where he raped her in front of her child, the ACP said.
When she protested, Bhagaram threatened to put her husband in jail, police said.
He also threatened to take action if she told anyone about the incident, they added.
"A medical examination of the woman has been conducted," ACP Sharma said.
Meanwhile, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot targeted the BJP government over the incident.
"This incident in the Chief Minister's constituency on Women's Day shows the pathetic state of law and order in Rajasthan," he said.
"It is very shameful that on the occasion of Women's Day, when the BJP government was busy in the glitz and entertainment of the IIFA Awards, a policeman raped a Dalit pregnant woman in front of a 3-year-old child in the Chief Minister's constituency, " Gehlot said in a post on X.
He said that the state government should dismiss the accused constable from service and take this case under the 'Case Officer Scheme' and get him punished as soon as possible.
"This case should be made an example so that such atrocities committed by the police can be stopped," he added.