Pervez Parwaz from Gorakhpur, who is a complainant in a hate speech case against UP CM Yogi Adityanath has been detained on the charge of gangrape. Reportedly, he had filed a petition seeking protection from arrest in the Allahabad High Court just two days ago. Pervez, 62 had filed a complaint against Yogi Adityanath, who was then a parliamentarian from Gorakhpur, in 2007 over a hate speech, according to the report by The Times of India. Since then he has been pursuing a case against Adityanath in various courts. It was alleged that the hate speech given by Yogi initiated communal violence which continued for a few days.

Case reopened

According to The Indian Express, the case was registered against Pervez and Mahmood aka Jumman on the complaint of the survivor on June 4 at Rajghat Police station. The complainant is a 40-yr-old vegetable vendor from Gorakhpur. She alleged that she was gang-raped by the two on June 3rd this year. She said she went to Mahmood for treatment of her estranged husband when the duo raped her.

“He [Muhammad] pointed a revolver to my head and committed the misdeed. There was another person with him [Mr. Parwaz] who raped me,” said the complainant, as reported by The Hindu. Reportedly, the Police closed the case after an investigation at first but had reopened it claiming to find fresh pieces of evidence and a new statement from the women.

Additional SP Vinay Kumar Singh said, “The Gorakhpur police arrested Pervez late Tuesday night from Kotwali area of the city and produced him today before a local court, which sent him to jail”. Reportedly, the medical examination had confirmed the rape.

Pervez’s counsel, Advocate S Farman Naqvi has said that he had filed a petition seeking a stay against Pervez and Mahmood’s arrests. According to him the Investigation Officer at Rajghat Police station submitted a closure report for the case stating that no evidence is found against the accused but that report was not filed in the court, and the case was transferred to Mahila Police station.

Advocate Asad Hayat, co-petitioner in the case and Pervez’s colleague reportedly said that the whole matter is fake and the arrest was made under political pressure. He said that “The police had already expunged the case and submitted a final report but they still reopened the case. The arrest came a day before the petition for stay on the arrest was to come up in the Allahabad High Court.”

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