• Source:JND
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday launched a scathing attack on Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government after a senior Delhi government official was detained for allegedly raping his deceased friend’s minor daughter and causing her pregnancy.

BJP’s Delhi secretary Bansuri Swaraj questioned the Kejriwal government over the delay in suspending the rape-accused official and also alleged that the accused had been assigned as an officer on Special Duty (OSD).

ALSO READ: Delhi WCD Officer Suspended For Allegedly Raping Minor Detained By Police; Investigation On

While addressing a press conference on Monday, Swaraj presented a highlighted document, claiming that the accused was appointed as an OSD to Delhi Minister Atishi.

"When FIR was filed on August 13, why so much time was taken to suspend the official, and why minister Atishi is silent on the issue,” Swaraj said, as quoted by the news agency PTI.

“There is a word used here — desired — which means the accused was handpicked by the Aam Aadmi Party and is close the AAP government who minister sahab [Atishi] chose as her OSD,” she further said.

Swaraj described the incident as ‘shameful’ and said, “The Deputy Director of the Delhi government's Women and Child Development (WCD) Department repeatedly raped a minor girl. The worst thing is the girl lost her father in 2020 and the official took her in as a guardian. He raped her when she was merely 14-year-old.”

She also assured that the BJP is with the minor and her family in this difficult time. BJP Delhi state president Virendra Sachdeva also slammed the Kejriwal government for appointing the rape-accused officer as OSD to the Minister of Women and Child Department (WCD).

However, the AAP leader refuted the allegations and claimed that the now-suspended official never worked with her as an OSD.

“This is a completely false thing. He (the accused) has never worked with me as an OSD," Atishi said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

Atishi also condemned the horrific rape incident and said, "It's a shocking incident as this accused was an officer in the Women and Child department. It's worrying as he's being charged with rape against a minor girl.”

“ I hope that the Delhi police will do the proceedings fast...As soon as Delhi CM (Arvind Kejriwal) got to know about the incident he (Arvind Kejriwal) gave the orders to the concerned officer to suspend the accused officer,” she further said.

Meanwhile, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal sat on a protest at a hospital after she alleged that she was not allowed to meet the minor girl.

"The (accused) Delhi government official has exerted clout that's why he was not arrested for 10 days by Delhi Police. We have come here to meet the victim but we are not allowed by police to do so," she told PTI.

Earlier in the day, Arvind Kejriwal ordered the suspension of the official and he was detained by the police. The police registered a case against the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, as reported by news agency PTI.

The official allegedly raped the girl from October 2020 to February 2021 after bringing her home following his father’s death. The minor girl in her complaint alleged that the official’s wife gave her abortion pills to terminate her pregnancy.

The incident of sexual abuse came to light after the girl disclosed the events to a counsellor at a hospital where she sought treatment for anxiety attacks.