An Assam woman, Indira Devi alias Jenny, has renewed her allegations against senior Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat, demanding a fresh DNA test to establish the paternity of her son and determine his claimed legal rights.
Speaking to a national media outlet on Saturday, Jenny alleged that a party worker took her to Rawat’s residence in Yamuna Colony in 2002, when she was 16. She claimed that she stayed there for around one-and-a-half to two months.
According to Jenny, she was working at a telephone booth in Yamuna Colony when the party worker took her to the Congress leader’s residence, where she was allowed to stay. She alleged that she became pregnant during this period and was later sent to a Nari Niketan, a women’s shelter, on the pretext of arranging hostel accommodation.
She claimed that the facility housed people with mental health conditions and called for an inquiry to establish whether she had been kept there.
Renewing her demand for action against Rawat over the alleged sexual assault, Jenny sought legal recognition of her son’s paternity. She said she wanted the Congress leader punished if the allegations were established and her son granted his father’s name and the rights she believed he was entitled to.
She also called for a fresh investigation and DNA test to establish the truth.
The controversy, known as the ‘Jenny episode’, dates back to 2003, when her allegations against Rawat first surfaced in Uttarakhand. Jenny gave birth at a government hospital in Dehradun in June that year and claimed Rawat was the child’s father.
The then Uttarakhand Chief Minister N D Tiwari ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the allegations. A DNA test conducted during the investigation found that the child’s DNA did not match Rawat’s, following which the Congress leader received a clean chit.
At the time, Rawat served as Revenue Minister in the Congress government headed by Tiwari. He is currently a senior Congress leader and is actively involved in the party’s election campaign.
