Woman accuses Maharashtra minister of rape; he says it is blackmail

Mumbai, January 13

A woman has accused Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde of rape and claimed the Mumbai police ignored her complaint.

The NCP leader denied the allegations, claiming he is being blackmailed by the complainant and her sister. Munde said he had been in a relationship with the complainant's sister and sired two children.

The 37-year-old woman, an aspiring singer, said she wrote to Mumbai police commissioner on January 10, stating that Munde repeatedly raped her in 2006. She also claimed that she approached Oshiwara police here earlier but her complaint was not accepted.

Munde (45) said the woman's claims were part of a conspiracy to blackmail him. He, however, acknowledged that he was in a relationship with the complainant’s sister and has two children with her.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Munde said his wife, family and friends were aware of this relationship, adding that the two kids had been accepted by his family.

He said the woman with whom he was in a relationship had been blackmailing him since 2019 and he had filed a police complaint and also moved the Bombay High Court seeking a stay on distribution of defamatory content against him. PTI

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