Hyderabad: BJP leader charged with sexual harassment, hours after demanding justice for murdered vet
A model accused Yuva Morcha activist Ashish Goud of misbehaving with her, and inappropriately touching her and her friends.
A Bharatiya Janata Party youth leader in Telangana was booked for allegedly sexually harassing a woman on Sunday, hours after demanding justice for a 27-year-old veterinarian who was allegedly gang-raped, and murder last week.
The BJP leader was identified as Ashish Goud, the son of former MLA Nandeshwar Goud. The alleged incident took place in a hotel in Cyberabad at around 2 am. “Today, we have received a complaint from a 27-year-old Telugu film industry model, stating that she along with her friends went to a hotel where Ashish Goud and his friends misbehaved with them, inappropriately touched them and used vulgar language,” said the police.
The complaint was filed at Madhapur police station. The model accused the saffron party leader of throwing glass bottles on the floor and claimed that he was about to hit her and her friends. “A bouncer – Azaar – was also standing next to the incident and was supporting Ashish Goud and his friends when they shouted at us to leave the place,” added the complainant.
Goud denied the allegation and said it was part of “blackmail politics”. He added: “If someone is filing a case against me, then they should speak with facts and figures. They should have proof as well.” The BJP Yuva Morcha leader blamed rival political parties of orchestrating the incident, and said he was not afraid of these “false cases”.
The police have filed a first information report under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.
On Saturday, Goud had put up a social media post about the Hyderabad murder case. “This injustice which has happened is so heartbreaking, these crimes are growing day by day,” he wrote on Facebook. “These criminals have to be hanged to death or shot to death. No more candlelight marches or protests, serious action should be taken and the only solution is hanging these brutal rapists.”