Uttarakhand BJP arrested for assaulting girl and expelled from the party

After the girl's statement was recorded, her medical examination was also carried out. (Representative)

Dehradun:

A BJP politician was arrested for allegedly molesting a teenager in Almora district of Uttarakhand. Almora SSP Devendra Pincha said on Sunday that Bhagwat Singh Bora, who is accused of sexually molesting a 14-year-old girl, was arrested on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, Bora, the party's Salt region block chief, has been taken cognizance of the incident on the instructions of BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt and has been expelled with immediate effect.

According to SSP, the alleged incident occurred on August 24 in the salt dispensing area and information regarding this was received on August 30.

Pincha said that proceedings have been registered against the accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Section 74 (assault or criminal force on a woman for the purpose of outrageping her modesty) of the BNS.

In the meantime, after recording the girl's statement, her medical examination was also carried out.

State Congress leader Karan Mahara attacked the ruling BJP on the issue, alleging that the BJP government had given its leaders a “carte blanche” in committing atrocities against women.

BJP state president Bhatt described the incident as “very unfortunate” and said the accused had been expelled from the party.

In a statement issued here, Mr Bhatt said the Pushkar Dhami state government was implementing a policy of “zero tolerance” towards crime.

“In this case too, our government is taking the strictest action, whether the accused is a small or big man, an influential man or a woman with links to a political party… As far as the organization is concerned, the leader involved in the incident has been dismissed from all posts with immediate effect and has been forced to resign from the party,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)