‘Rape charges fake, political vendetta against me’: Sonia Gandhi’s aide PP Madhavan breaks silence

A rape case was registered with the Delhi Police against Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s personal secretary PP Madhavan. A 26-year-old Dalit woman has filed rape charges against Madhavan, accusing him of sexual assault and threats.

According to the police officials, the woman filed a case of rape and criminal intimidation against Madhavan. The woman alleged that the accused lured her on the pretext of providing her a job and had promised marriage.

Finally breaking his silence on the rape allegations lodged against him, Sonia Gandhi’s aide PP Madhavan said that all charges against him were fake, and the complaint was made in order to settle a political vendetta against him and his party.

In an official statement, Madhavan said, “I have the evidence to demonstrate and establish that the complaint has been made in a pre-concerted manner in order to settle a political vendetta and the present complaint is devoid of merits.”

A police officer said the victim, who lives in Delhi, was allegedly raped and threatened with dire consequences by the accused if she reported the matter to the police.

"A complaint was received at the Uttam Nagar police station on June 25. A case under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered. We are investigating the matter," said M Harsha Vardhan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka).

In the FIR filed against the Congress worker, the Dalit woman alleged that her financial condition was not good after her husband had passed away in 2020, and she was seeking a job in the Congress office, where she was given Madhavan’s number.

"I told him I was in need of a job and he promised to help me? On January 21 (this year), he called me for an interview. He asked me many questions and viewed all my documents. He then told me that he wanted to marry me. I said yes. One day, he called me to meet him. He came to pick me up in a car and asked his driver to leave the car. He sexually assaulted me and tried to rape me. When I objected to this, he got angry and left me on the road alone," the woman alleged in the FIR.

(With PTI inputs)

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