Thaindian News

Mumbai, Oct 20 (IANS) Mumbai police has filed a chargesheet against the city unit chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whom a 19-year-old girl has accused of defamation, a police officer said here Thursday.

Ankita Rane had, in April, exposed a ‘pani puri’ vendor urinating in his serving vessel by recording a video of the same.

Later, Mumbai BJP chief Raj Purohit had said in a public address that it was Rane who had to be obscene for making a video recording the incident.

“The Azad Maidan Police station (in south Mumbai) has filed a chargesheet against Purohit under section 509 of the Indian Penal Code — words, gestures or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Shashikant Satao told IANS.

Rane had then filed a case of defamation against Purohit over alleged character-assassination. Purohit had reportedly said that women hailing from “cultured homes” did not observe such obscene things.

In her complaint, Rane had claimed that Purohit had outraged her modesty by branding her “characterless”. Slapping a defamation case against him, Rane had also demanded a compensation of Rs.1 crore.

“I am glad that finally a chargesheet has been filed against Purohit. However, I have not got a copy of the chargesheet yet and can comment only after my lawyer goes through it,” Rane told IANS.

Rane also said that she had no vested interests in exposing the disgusting act of the ‘pani puri’ vendor and that she did it out of pure concern for the general health of street-food lovers.

Purohit had earlier said that he did not know Rane personally and had not intended to malign her image. But it is obviously obscene for a woman to record such an act, he had said.

However, when contacted by IANS, Purohit refused to comment on the chargesheet, maintaining that he has nothing to say.