FILE photo: Former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Laxmanrao Dhoble
NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Laxmanrao Dhoble has been accused of rape by a woman working at an educational institution of which he is a trustee.
According to police, the 42-year-old woman lodged a complaint this morning
accusing Dhoble, a legislator from Mohol, of repeatedly raping her between 2011 and 2013. She also alleged that Dhoble had clicked her photographs and threatened to circulate it if she approached the police. The woman works in a clerical post in the administration section of the college.
"We have registered a complaint based on the statement by the victim. Further investigations are going on and we shall take appropriate steps accordingly," Deputy Commissioner of Police B Rajput said. The MLA has been booked under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
Sources say the woman, too, has cases filed against her, including for alleged embezzlement of admission funds along with Dhoble.
The case against the Dhoble, who was a minister in the Congress-NCP government till last year, is bound to cause major embarrassment for his party ahead of the assembly elections in October.