21-year-old alleges gangrape by ex-Andaman Chief Secretary and Labour officers, SIT is set up
The FIR naming the two officers was filed at this station on October 1. The complainant has got security.
Two serving bureaucrats, one of whom is an IAS officer of the 1990 batch and was Chief Secretary, Andaman & Nicobar (A&N) Islands, have been accused of sexual assault and gangrape by a 21-year-old woman in Port Blair.
In Response to her complaint on August 22, 2022 to the Director General of Police, A&N Islands, an FIR was lodged at the Aberdeen police station in Port Blair on October 1 and police have set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe her allegations.
The two accused of rape, and who’s names are in the FIR, are as follows Jitendra Narain, and R L Rishi,.
Narain is currently Chairman & Managing Director of the Delhi Financial Corporation. When contacted in New Delhi, Narain said he would not like to comment on the “absurd” allegations.
When tried to contact Rishi he was unavailable for comment and his office told The media that he was on “medical leave.” Media has confirmed that the licence plate of the car mentioned by the woman in which she was taken to Narain’s house is registered in Rishi’s name.
In the FIR (No. 165/2022) , the complainant has asked that CCTV footage from Narain’s house should be collected and that she would identify his staff who should also be questioned.
The woman’s complaint, gives a detailed account of the violent sexual attack on her on two occasions at night in April and May at Narain’s official residence in Port Blair.
In her complaint, the woman has said that in search of a job, she was introduced to the Labour Commissioner through a hotel owner and the Commissioner took her to the residence of the Chief Secretary. There, she said, she was offered liquor which she refused and was assured government employment. Subsequently, she alleged, she was brutally and sexually abused by the two men.
Two weeks later, she alleged in the complaint, she was again called at 9 pm by them to the Chief Secretary’s residence and the assault was repeated. Instead of the promised government job, she alleged, she was threatened with dire consequences if she spoke about the matter to anyone.
Narain claims, in his written denials, that the accusations were at the behest of local officers against whom he had taken action as Chief Secretary and they were behind a “malicious” campaign against him. He would fully cooperate with the police and is willing to even face trial.
