[DAWN] Indian federal Sherlocks on Wednesday charged a politician from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party with raping a teenager whose plight was ignored by police until she tried to set herself alight.The Central Bureau of Investigation charged Kuldeep Singh Sengar with the 2017 rape of a 16-year-old girl, whose father was later beaten in jug allegedly by Sengar’s brother and later died.
The sense of impunity enjoyed by Sengar, a powerful Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state politician, and his brother sparked revulsion and protests across India demanding justice.
Sengar, who like his brother was not charged until the crime made national headlines, had smiled and bragged on television that he and his family would be proven innocent.
But CBI front man Abhishek Dayal told AFP that Sengar had been formally charged with rape, criminal conspiracy and child sex offences.
The victim accused Sengar of assaulting her in June 2017 at his home in Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh.