MP: Police arrest BJP leader for molesting minor girl in Umaria

Umaria: Police arrested a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in connection with the molestation of a minor girl in Madhya Pradesh's Umaria district, the police said on Monday.
The BJP leader has been identified as Rahul Shitlani, aged around 25 years, and he was appointed as the district co-coordinator of the BJP IT cell in November 2022. Now, he has been removed from the IT-cell of the party. According to the police, a case was registered against Sitlani under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and other relevant sections at Nowrozabad police station in the district on April 10 this year. The accused used to molest and harass the minor victim. He also threatened to make the photo viral.
According to the FIR, a copy of which is with ANI, the father of the minor girl had submitted a written application in the police station to lodge an FIR against the accused. He told the police that his daughter told him that in March this year, when she had gone to Anuppur for a wedding, she had a video call with Rahul Shitlani. The accused threatened to defame her on video call and asked her to take off her clothes. Out of fear of being defamed, she did whatever the accused asked and in the meantime the accused took screenshots.
After that when the minor returned to her home in Nowrozabad after about a week, the accused phoned her and showed those obscene pictures to her. He threatened her that as long as she kept meeting him and kept talking, she was safe otherwise he would make the photo viral.
The accused constantly threatened her and used to call her to meet behind the house. Finding her alone, the accused misbehaved with her. The accused also followed her on the way to school and the market. The minor was very upset, due to infamy she had not told anyone about the matter, but Sitlani made it difficult for her to get out of the house. So, she told her father about the problem. After that he reported the complaint to the police, the FIR reads.
After the case was registered, the accused was on the run. The police arrested the accused on Saturday and sent him to jail. (ANI)