LUCKNOW: Proving that the claim made by the Uttar Pradesh government about having an iron grip on anti-social elements in the state was mere rhetoric, the gunner and a domestic help employed by a BJP MLA attempted to rape an 18-year-old girl right at the official residence of the legislator in Lucknow.
The accused were arrested on Friday morning and were later sent to jail. The incident occurred on Thursday when BJP MLA from Varanasi Cantonment, Saurabh Srivastava, was away in Assembly attending the proceedings of the House. The girl first reported the matter to the MLA on Friday, following which a complaint was lodged with the police. Later, an FIR was lodged against the two accused — gunner Manoj Tiwari and domestic help Sohan Lal — at Hazaratganj police station on Friday for allegedly harassing the girl sexually and trying to extort money from her.
MLA Srivastava got a call from the girl’s mother on Friday morning and he informed SSP Lucknow Deepak Kumar about it. Elaborating on the incident, the MLA said that the girl was called by the two accused on the pretext of helping her brother, who was embroiled in a theft case. “When she came over, the gunner allegedly tried to molest her,” said the MLA, and claimed that under the present government, no one could get away after committing a crime.
"An FIR in the case has been lodged against the two under IPC sections 354A (sexual harassment), 384 (extortion) and 504 (intentional insult) of IPC," said Abhay Kumar Mishra, CO, Hazratganj.
As per the official figures, there have been 729 murders, 60 robberies and 803 cases of rape between March 15 and May 9, 2017, in the state.