Video shows Maharashtra BJP leader forcibly kissing woman on bus, charged with rape, outraging modesty

The BJP leader allegedly lured the woman by offer of marriage and finding a job. Representational image

A BJP leader in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli was booked and arrested over charges of rape and outraging modesty of a woman after a video of him forcibly trying to kiss a woman in a bus went viral across the state. The woman in question filed a complaint against Ravindra Bawanthade after the video went viral. According to the Hindustan Times,  Bawanthade was Armori Assembly constituency ‘s party in-charge during the 2014 state elections.

They was travelling from Nagpur to Gadchiroli when the incident happened and it was recorded on the CCTV camera. The woman also alleged in her complaint that Bawanthade had promised to get married to her and to help her find a job.

As per a report in TOI, 48-year-old Banthwade works as a supervisor at a school in Chandrapur district and the woman who registered complaint against him is a former student of the school. The FIR states that he had forced himself upon the woman earlier in his car near Navarkhed.

Gadchiroli Lok Sabha member and senior BJP leader Ashok Nete, however, claimed that Bawanthade was not a member of the party anymore. Nete said, “he was a party office-bearer in the past. As he failed to attend party meetings repeatedly, he was removed from the post of party general secretary,” as quoted by HT.