Gujarat’s Minister of State for Civil Supplies Gajendrasinh Parmar is in the dock after a BJP woman worker allegedly attempted suicide on Saturday morning reportedly for harassment after the police failed to register an FIR against him for establishing a physical relationship with her on the promise of marriage that was never implemented.
Advocate Hiren Sharma, who represents the woman BJP worker before the Gujarat High Court, claimed that “She gulped down mosquito repellent liquid earlier this morning and minutes before taking such a step, she sent me a message on WhatsApp that she is going to take such a step as no FIR has been filed till date with regard to her allegations and she is being threatened by the accused minister and his aides. She had said in her message that if something happens to her, the minister and his aides will be responsible for the same.”
Chandkheda police station police inspector VM Desai told a section of the Press that the woman was stable but kept under observation on doctors’ advice. He said the police had recorded her statement where she has referred to her prior allegations against the minister as the reason for her taking this step.
The woman who belongs to the Scheduled Castes and joined the BJP two years ago, had in November 2021, moved the Gujarat High Court demanding to file a First Information Report (FIR) against an MLA, who subsequently became a minister in the new Gujarat government, for allegedly establishing physical relationship with her on the promise of marriage and later going back on it on the pretext that she is a Dalit.
Confirming this, advocate Hiren Sharma said she had first come in contact with the MLA at Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar for “party work”, and had taken her phone number and then asked her to meet him in the MLA quarters in Gandhinagar in 2020. In July 2020, the two had established physical relations and Parmar, who later became a minister, promised to marry her.
The woman, whose name has been withheld to protect her identity, had petitioned the high court that despite repeated applications submitted before various police authorities, including Gujarat Director General of Police, no FIR was lodged to date. “She was left with no other option to approach the Gujarat High Court to get an FIR lodged,” Sharma told Vibes of India.
The woman also sought the court’s direction to provide her with police protection. The petition, last listed on February 15, was not taken up due to a paucity of time and has now been listed for hearing on April 6.
When contacted, Minister Gajendrasinh Parmar told Vibes of India, “All her allegations are false and I have never even met her, but I will go by what the high court orders since a petition have been filed against me.”
Hiren Sharma also told Vibes of India that has been documented in her complaint letter to the DGP that when the woman was called on the pretext of investigation, a constable took a personal interest in intimidating her to sign some settlement papers.
In her complaint to the DGP, she alleged that she was offered Rs 1 crore by Gajendrasinh to lodge a rape complaint against another person by the name of one Kishoresinh Jhala. To this, she had objected, reportedly stating that she and he shared a relation of siblings
Giving more details, the letter claimed that when she had called the Sector-21 police station on June 28, 2021, a man named writer Narendrasinh and Sanjaybhai were present at the police station. They told her to sign a paper that they presented to her and if she did the same, Gajendrasinh would accept her. No information was given about what that document was which they wanted her signed.
Later at 8 pm, Narendrasinh tried to give Rs 20 lakh to the woman and informed her that the remaining Rs 80 lakh would be given by Gajendrasinh, who was sitting in a car with black glasses outside. The woman was asked to file a complaint of a rape case against one Kishoresinh Jhala, which she didn’t wish to.
