NEW DELHI: A two-decade-old controversy involving senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat has resurfaced ahead of the state’s assembly elections next year. A woman identified as Jenny has renewed her allegations of rape against Rawat and demanded a fresh DNA test to establish the paternity of her 23-year-old son. The allegations, which first triggered a political storm in 2003, had forced Rawat to resign as a minister before a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe gave him a clean chit in 2004.Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed support for Jenny, who is originally from Assam. After meeting her, Sarma described the alleged treatment she faced as “extremely wrong and reprehensible” and said he stood by her in her fight for justice.Rawat, who currently heads the Congress’s election management committee in Uttarakhand, has rejected the renewed allegations, maintained that he was cleared by the CBI and accused the BJP of reviving the controversy for political reasons ahead of the polls.
What are the allegations
Jenny has claimed that she arrived in Dehradun from Assam in October 2002, when she was 16. She alleged that a party worker took her to Rawat’s residence in Yamuna Colony, where she stayed for around one-and-a-half to two months.In an interview with ANI, she accused Rawat of sexually assaulting her and claimed that she subsequently became pregnant. She alleged that she was placed in a Nari Niketan (women’s shelter) under the pretext of providing hostel accommodation, where she was kept among people with mental health conditions.At a press conference, Jenny questioned the original investigation, claiming that she was not properly heard by the CBI and was made to sign documents without understanding their contents. She said she had limited knowledge of Hindi at the time and struggled to understand the proceedings.She also questioned the earlier DNA test, asking how it was conducted without collecting blood samples from her or her son.“My son is 23 years old today and has grown up without a father. I do not want anything for myself; I only seek justice for my son. I demand that the CBI re-investigate this case and that a new DNA test be carried out,” she said.Jenny has submitted a written complaint to Uttarakhand DGP Deepam Seth, who forwarded it to the Dehradun SSP for further action. The inquiry has been assigned to Doiwala circle officer Vandana Verma.
How did the controversy first emerge
The case first surfaced in 2003, when Jenny gave birth to a child at a government hospital in Dehradun in June. She alleged that Rawat, then revenue minister in the Congress government led by chief minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari, was the child’s father.The allegations triggered a major political storm, forcing Rawat to resign. He also gave up his assembly membership and demanded a CBI investigation, saying he would stay away from public events until his name was cleared.A subsequent CBI investigation and DNA test reportedly found that the child’s DNA did not match Rawat’s. He was given a clean chit in 2004.
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Rejecting Jenny’s renewed allegations, Rawat said the CBI had already cleared him and the court had closed the matter. He claimed Jenny stayed at his residence for only two days before being sent to a Nari Niketan for her safety.Rawat accused the BJP of using the controversy to divert attention from issues such as the Ankita Bhandari murder case and corruption. He also threatened to file a defamation suit against Dhami, BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt, Jenny and others.