SP Leaders Offered Money To Withdraw Complaint: Ayodhya Rape Survivor’s Mother

The mother of a 12-year-old girl who was allegedly gang-raped in Ayodhya has accused local Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders of offering her money and pressuring her to withdraw the complaint against Moid Khan, a party office-bearer.

According to an India Today report, the mother claimed that Mohammed Rashid, the SP’s Bhadarsa Nagar Panchayat chairperson, offered her money and asked her to “settle the case.” Additionally, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state president Vishwanath Pal alleged that the survivor’s mother was being forced to compromise in the case.

Pal told PTI, “A delegation of the BSP met the family of the girl in her village on Saturday. The mother of the girl told the delegation that some people were asking her to make a compromise in the case. We assured her that justice will be done and she should not come under pressure or threat of anyone.”

The mother accused SP member Moid Khan of raping her daughter. The Uttar Pradesh Police arrested bakery owner Moid Khan and his employee Raju Khan from the Purakalandar area of Ayodhya district on July 30. According to the police, the pair had raped the girl two months ago and recorded the act. The incident came to light when the girl was found to be pregnant during a medical checkup.

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On Saturday, the Ayodhya district administration demolished Khan’s bakery. “The bakery of Moid Khan has been demolished,” Ayodhya’s District Magistrate Chandra Vijay Singh told PTI. “The bakery had one big room and one small room. It was illegally built over a pond and has been demolished,” Singh added.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while speaking in the assembly on Thursday, said that Khan belongs to the SP. “Moid Khan is from the Samajwadi Party and a member of the Ayodhya MP’s team. He has been found involved in a case of rape of a 12-year-old. The Samajwadi Party has not taken action against him,” Adityanath said.