Samajwadi Party leaders offered money to settle case, says 12-year-old Ayodhya rape victim's family

Members of the Samajwadi Party have been accused of offering financial compensation to the family of a minor gang-rape victim in Ayodhya. The assertion came mere days after ‘SP leader’ Moid Khan was arrested in connection with the attack. 

According to an India Today TV report, an SP ‘chairman’ named Rashid had offered her money and asked her to settle the case. Mohammed Rashid is incidentally the party's Bhadarsa Nagar Panchayat Chairman.

The remarks echo claims made by BSP leader Vishwanath Pal after a meeting with the family of the victim. The BSP state president also lashed out at the Samajwadi Party for ‘not expelling Moid Khan as an office bearer’.

“Some people were asking her to make a compromise in the case. We assured her that justice will be done and she should not come under pressure or threat from anyone,” he told PTI.

“Moid Khan is from the Samajwadi Party and a member of the Ayodhya MP's team. He has been found involved in a case of rape of a 12-year-old. The Samajwadi Party has not taken action against him. I am not able to understand what all this is. He is hanging out with the SP MP of Ayodhya (Awadhesh Prasad),” UP chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had told the state Assembly on Thursday.

Media reports indicate that the 12-year-old was gang-raped by three men — including the SP-affiliated Moid Khan. Police sources told PTI that the bakery owner and his employee Raju Khan had raped the girl two months ago and recorded the act. The incident came to light when a recent medical examination revealed that the victim was pregnant. The police arrested the duo from the Purakalandar area of UP on July 30 in connection with the case.

Meanwhile a BJP delegation met with the family of the rape survivor and urged the state government to raise the compensation to the survivor's kin from ₹5 lakh to 25 lakh.

(With inputs from agencies)