LJP MP Prince Paswan booked for rape, party calls it 'political conspiracy'

Lok Janshakti Party MP Prince Raj has been booked on rape charges here following a direction by a court, police said on Tuesday.

A complaint was filed three months ago by the alleged victim, who is a party worker, and the case was registered under sections related to rape, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence, they said.

LJP spokesperson Shravan Kumar defended Prince Raj and claimed that the allegations against him are a "political conspiracy" to malign him. He said the MP had lodged a complaint of "extortion and blackmailing" with Delhi Police on February 10 against the woman who has accused him of rape.

The alleged rape took place in 2020, according to the complaint.

"The court’s direction came on September 9 and a case has been registered under relevant sections at the Connaught Place Police Station," a police officer said.

Police said that an investigation is underway and nobody has been questioned in this regard yet.

Without naming anyone, Shravan Kumar alleged that it was a political conspiracy and said the police should swiftly probe the case lodged by the Samartipur MP. "We have absolute faith in judiciary," he added.

Without elaborating, he said cases of "honey trapping" also frequently happen.

Prince Raj is the cousin of LJP leader Chirag Paswan who, according to police, was also mentioned named in the FIR. The victim alleged that Chirag pressured her not to file the complaint against Prince, the police said.

Mr. Chirag Paswan had earlier said that he had spoken to his cousin and the complainant when the matter was brought before him. He had asked both of them to pursue the matter with police, he had said.

Mr. Chirag Paswan and Prince Raj are estranged now with the latter joining the party faction headed by their uncle and Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras.

In her complaint, the victim claimed that she met Prince first at the party office. They later met on many occasions and at one such meeting, the accused allegedly gave her something to drink. When she became unconscious, he made physical relations with her, the police said.

When she confronted him later, he showed her a video recorded by him in which he was seen making physical relations with her. She also alleged that he proposed to marry her and threatened her that he would put the video on the internet, they said.

She also alleged that Prince then started visiting her at odd hours.