India BJP bribe to kin of girl who alleged 'love jihad'

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/BJP-man-gave-Rs-25000-to-kin-of-girl-who-alleged-love-jihad/articleshow/44819327.cms

BJP man gave Rs 25,000 to kin of girl who alleged 'love jihad'
Ishita Bhatia,TNN | Oct 15, 2014, 04.12 AM IST

MEERUT: Two days after the 'victim' of the alleged gang rape and
forced conversion in Meerut made a dramatic U-turn and retracted her
earlier statement, the police filed a case of assault and threat to
murder against her parents on Tuesday.

The woman also alleged that Vineet Agarwal, a BJP functionary, had
offered her family Rs 25,000 on August 7, a few days after the
incident came to light, and assured them help with more money in
future.

Asked if the family had received any money from Agarwal, the girl's
father did not name anyone, but said, "Hindu outfits helped us with
money because our financial condition was weak. This matter should not
be politicized."

Agarwal said he gave the family Rs 25,000 only because he wanted to
help them as they were poor.

"When the case came to light, I went to the girl's house. Because her
family was poor, I helped them monetarily on humanitarian grounds," he
said. "My help should not be linked with politics. Had she been of any
other religion, I would have helped just the same."

United Hindu Front activists participate in a protest against the
alleged "love jihad" movement in New Delhi, on September 23, 2014.
(AFP photo)

In the official complaint accessed by TOI, the woman alleges that her
family started planning to kill her once the money from the BJP leader
stopped coming and the security cover at the house was removed.

The security cover provided to the family since August 3 was lifted on
Saturday evening. The woman approached police the following day.

Asked how her statement will change proceedings in court, MM Baig, SP
(rural), said, "A chargesheet has already been filed in the case on
August 3, and 10 people are under arrest. If the girl does not retract
her latest statement, the case will witness a U-turn."

Young girls under the banner of "India Against Love Jihad" forming a
human chain in Bhopal to protest against the so-called rising trend of
"love jihad" cases in India. (TOI file photo)

The woman's father denied her allegations and said to TOI, "She has
been living with us for the last two-and-a-half months. If we had to
kill her, why would we wait so long?"

The father claimed that Muslim groups were "putting pressure" on his
daughter to change her statement and demanded a CBI probe into the
matter.

The 22-year-old had alleged in August that she was gang-raped at a
Muzaffarnagar madrassa, where several other women were also held
captive. She had also alleged that she was forced to convert to Islam.