The woman who had accused former Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat of rape changed her stand completely on Wednesday, and said, "He [Harak Singh Rawat] is a good man, and I apologise to him for levelling fake charges against him." The Assam resident has, instead, alleged that Chief Minister Harish Rawat "instigated and threatened" her to lodge a complaint against the former Congress leader, reported The Times of India.

According to the complainant, she had gone to the chief minister's residence to follow up on a case she had registered against Harak 13 years ago. The case, which was related to the paternity of her son, was dismissed back then. She had approached Harish Rawat to reopen the case, but the chief minister allegedly told her to lodge a fresh complaint against the BJP leader alleging rape.

She said: "Four associates of Harish Rawat also came to my residence to put pressure on me. They even threatened to harm my son if I did not follow their instructions. I do not belong to Uttarakhand, so I could not recognise the four.". Harak, who was among the members of the ruling party in the state who had rebelled against the Harish Rawat government, has denied the allegations as "totally false and baseless". The former state agriculture minister now belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Reacting to the development, Surendra Kumar, the media advisor to the chief minister, said, "We have not heard the version of the woman, so it is not possible to comment on the issue. However, it appears that the entire conspiracy has been hatched to defame the Congress government and target the CM."