Ruling party politician arrested in India as anger over alleged rapes builds
Police only brought a case against the powerful politician last week after the young victim attempted to burn herself alive outside the state leader’s residence
Indian police have made another arrest after the alleged rape of a teenager by a ruling party politician sparked protests across the country, federal investigators said on Sunday.
The case, along with the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl, has brought Indians onto the streets for mass demonstrations not seen since the rape and murder of a Delhi student in 2012.
The outrage has put pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is accused of trying to shield its state lawmaker in one case and of defending the accused in the other.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh state which is ruled by the BJP, for allegedly raping the 17-year-old last year.
Police only brought a case against the powerful politician last week after the young victim attempted to burn herself alive outside the state leader’s residence.
“We arrested the second person, a woman named Shashi Singh, in our ongoing investigations of the case on Saturday,” said R.K Gaur, a CBI spokesman.