Delhi Police summons Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi's son in rape case

New Delhi, May 15: The Delhi Police on Sunday pasted a summon outside Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi's residence asking his son Rohit Joshi to appear before it by May 18 in connection with an alleged rape case.

The 15-member team reached Jaipur to nab Rohit Joshi over the case wherein he is accused by a 23-year-old woman of raping her, officials said. "Our team of officers have reached Jaipur in connection with the case to nab Joshi who has been absconding. Our teams are conducting search to locate and trace him," said a senior police officer.

It comes days after a 23-year-old Jaipur woman mounted allegations against Rohit Joshi of raping her on multiple occasions for over a year. Initially, the Delhi Police filed a zero FIR and it was covered into a regular FIR since the allegations of commission of sexual assault committed in Sadar Bazar police station jurisdiction has also been mentioned, investigation was taken up, police had said.

The case was registered on May 8 at a police station in North District under sections 376 (rape), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence), 312 (causing miscarriage), 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her mar­riage, etc), 377 (unnatural offences) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, the police said.

As per the complaint, the woman was raped on several occasions between January 8 last year and April 17 this year. The woman had said she developed friendship with Rohit Joshi on Facebook last year and since then they have been in contact. The two met in Jaipur first and he allegedly invited her to Sawai Madhopur on January 8, 2021.

During their first meeting, she alleged, he spiked her drink and took advantage of it. When she woke up the next morning, he showed her naked photographs and videos which worried her, reads the FIR. Mentioning about another meeting, she had alleged that Rohit Joshi had also once met her in Delhi and forced himself upon her.

"Rohit made me stay at a hotel where he got our names registered as husband and wife. He then promised to marry me...but then he got drunk and abused me...He would beat me up and make obscene videos of me. He would threaten to upload them and make them viral...," the woman alleged.

She further stated that on August 11, 2021, she found out that she was pregnant with his baby and alleged that he forced her up take a pill but she didn't, the complainant stated in the FIR. A zero FIR can be registered anywhere in the country. PTI