KALABURAGI/BIDAR: Following registration of an FIR against Pratik Chawan, the son of Aurad BJP MLA and former BJP minister in Karnataka Prabhu Chawan, different teams of Bidar district police have begun the search operation to arrest him.
In the complaint lodged by the woman at Bidar Women Police Station, she accused him of rape charges. Bidar SP Pradeep Gunti said that the woman has been subjected to medical test on July 21.
Meanwhile, the Aurad MLA who spoke with TNIE over phone said that anticipatory bail application would be sought in the court and a counter complaint has already been lodged against the woman and her relatives at Hokrana Police Station of Aurad taluk.
Prabhu Chauhan has alleged that with the instigation of former union minister Bhagavant Khuba of BJP, the complaint has been lodged against his son, just to tarnish his (Prabhu Chawan’s image).
The woman, who is a native of Udgir taluka (Latur district) of Maharashtra has stated in the complaint that there was a marriage engagement between her and Pratik Chawan in 2023.
After the engagement, Pratik took her to several places, including Ghamsabai Bonti Thanda of Bidar district, Bengaluru, Latur, Shirdi, Bidar of Karnataka, and forcibly raped her, promising of early marriage. Pratrik has even injured her at one place, she alleged in the complaint.
The 25 year-old-woman has stated in the complaint that her mother and brother went to Ghamsabai Bonti Thanda of Aurad taluk to request Prabhu Chauhan to fix the marriage date.
Instead of fixing the marriage date, the followers of Prabhu Chawan manhandled her brother and others, she alleged in the complaint.
However, Prabhu Chawan stated that the engagement between his son and the woman from Udgir taluka took place in 2023, and once he came to know that the woman had an affair with another boy, he spoke with the woman, who later accepted the charge.
The marriage prospects were then broken in November 2024. "They wanted to bargain for handsome money, stating that they had spent a lot of money on the engagement. But I refused to pay, asking them to disclose the actual expenditure. I also told him I would pay half of the money spent for the engagement as per the procedure," he said.
"All of a sudden the girl’s mother, brother and her relatives came to the house at Ghamsathebai Bonti Thanda of Aurad taluk on April 5, which is the previous day of my birthday celebration. They tried to disturb the celebration preparation and tried to manhandle the people present there," he added.
"My followers prevented them and sent them back," he said.