Srinagar:
The Jammu and Kashmir Police has registered a case of sexual assault against Health Minister Shabir Khan after a complaint from a woman doctor. Mr Khan is a Congress legislator from Rajouri.
The woman has said in her complaint that she received repeated calls from Mr Khan's staff over a week ago. She was told that the minister wants to know about the announcements made by Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad during his visit to the hospital where she works. Despite her requests that minister should obtain the information from senior officials, the doctor alleged, she was compelled to report at the minister's office on January 28.
The woman said when she reached Mr Khan's office at the Secretariat, 10-15 people already present there but Mr Khan asked her to go and wait inside a small cabin. The woman said she refused to leave the office but the minister convinced her to sit inside the cabin.
When the minister came to meet her at the cabin, she said, he acted like a "sexual predator" and made provocative advances - both verbal and physical. He also offered her many favours despite her resentment, the doctor said. The meeting lasted for 10-15 minutes, she said.
The woman doctor claimed that the minister accompanied Mr Azad when he came for the inspection of the hospital, yet called her to get the information. She also said that Mr Khan asked her to meet him at the Circuit House where he was staying.
The minister has been booked under non-bailable offences of outraging the modesty of a woman. Police sources say he is charged under Sections 354 and 509 of the Ranbir Penal Code or RPC, Kashmir's own penal code. Sources also say that the minister is likely to be arrested soon.