BJP will be compelled to petition Centre for probe: Kohli
SHILLONG: With the delay on the part of the Chief Minister to take action against Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh, the Centre is keeping a close watch on the development in Meghalaya in the wake of the sex racket case involving a 14-year-old girl.
The central BJP leadership is keen to ask the Centre to order a probe into the sex racket case involving the guest house run by the family of the Home Minister.
“The people of Meghalaya are saddened over the state of affairs following the matter. The people can see what is happening. The BJP will be constrained in the interest of the public to petition the Centre for an impartial probe into the entire episode,” BJP national spokesperson Nalin Kohli told The Shillong Times on Saturday.
According to Kohli, the onus is on Chief Minister Mukul Sangma. “Will he for the first time do the right thing by sacking his Home Minister whose guest house is embroiled in the controversy or will he choose once again to be seen as siding with the wrong,” Kohli asked.
Following the case that surfaced last December after the victim girl lodged a complaint with the police over sexual exploitation, Mawhati legislator Julius Dorphang was arrested.
The Independent legislator is supporting the Congress-led MUA-II government.
Dorphang is yet to be dropped from the post of Chairman, Meghalaya Khadi and Village Industries Board.
In fact, both the Chief Minister and MPCC president D.D Lapang, while referring to Dorphang, had maintained that until proven guilty, he is innocent without understanding the provisions of the POCSO Act, which highlights that the accused should prove innocence as there is no presumption of innocence with regard to a POCSO case compared to other cases.
Besides Dorphang, as many as 16 persons are in custody in connection with the case.
The case took a different turn after the guest house run by the Home Minister’s son was repeatedly used for sexual abuse.
Despite pressure from various quarters, the Chief Minister had reiterated that he would not drop the Home Minister from the cabinet.
The Home Minister had also claimed that he had nothing to do with the sex racket case as he was not directly involved in the matter.
