In a major relief to former Congress MLA from Barmer Mewaram Jain, Rajasthan High court has granted stay on the arrest of Jain in a rape case. A woman has accused Jain and eight people including one RPS officer Anand Singh Rajpurohit of raping her and molestating her adolescent daughter two years ago.
The case has been registered at the Rajeev Gandhi Nagar Police Station in Jodhpur, police said.
The woman has also alleged in the FIR that the accused also raped a minor friend of her and exerted pressure on her to bring other girls to them.
The accused also include two more police officers – Barmer SHO Gangaram Khawa and Sub Inspector Daud Khan – and Pradhan Girdhari Singh Sodha.
Confirming the FIR, SHO Shakil Ahmad said that a report has been filed against Jain and 8 others alleging gang rape, intimidation and threats. “She has alleged that Jain has been raping her since 2021, while one Ram Swaroop, who had introduced her to Jain, has been raping her for five years,” said the official stating that the investigation has been initiated into the matter.
The woman alleged that due to her father's illness, she came in contact with Ram Swaroop from Barmer about five years ago and he assured her he would help her. Taking advantage of her vulnerability, he raped her, recorded the acts and continued to sexually exploit her.
She stated that he introduced her to the then MLA of Barmer Jain in 2021 at her flat and alleged that both of them raped her and have been continuously raping her since then. They also molested her adolescent daughter, raped one of her friends and insisted she bring other women also.
She also alleged that the police officers and other accused threatened her against revealing the matter and also forced her to sign some blank papers.
Ram Swaroop had also filed a case in Barmer in November 2022 against five people, including two women, alleging sextortion and demand of Rs 50 lakh. Police arrested the accused in this case.
Mevaram Jain was elected as the MLA from the Barmer constituency on a Congress ticket three times. He, however, lost the last election to BJP rebel Priyanka Choudhary. He has also held the post of chairman of the Gau Seva Ayog.
Some explicit pictures/CD of Jain had surfaced over a year back, which Jain had claimed to be doctored, and he filed a case at the Kotwali Police Station in Barmer.
The zonal unit of the Enforcement Directorate, Jaipur, has registered a case of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with this issue after it was learnt that an exchange of Rs 5 crore had allegedly taken place in this case.
