Gujarat BJP leader accused of raping nursing student, is absconding

Ahmedabad: The police in Gujarat's Vadodara is on the lookout for a BJP leader who is accused of raping a 22-year-old nursing student.

Jayesh Patel has already been suspended by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Patel is the founder-president and trustee of a private institute in Vadodara where the victim was studying.

Reports said the police has already arrested the institute’s women’s hostel rector.

In the FIR filed in connection with the case, Patel has been booked under Sections 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

As per reports, Patel managed to escape while the complaint against him was being registered.

The victim told police that she was raped by Patel at his residence, located close to the women’s hostel.

According to the student, Patel attempted to lure her by promising her full attendance and decent exam results. However, she refused and was then raped by Patel.

The victim told the police that the BJP leader had threatened to expel her from college if she disclosed the incident to anyone.

Patel, a local leader of the BJP in Vadodara, was earlier with the Congress and had contested Assembly Elections twice in the past.