IMMORAL: The BJP swears by Ram and Sita-mai but is itself involved in running brothels in Meghalaya.
By Scroll Staff
Vice-President of Meghalaya BJP Bernard N Mark has been arrested for running a farm house brothel
The police said that Bernard N Marak has been evading arrest since the raid took place in Tura town.
Six minors were rescued and 73 persons were arrested in Meghalaya’s Tura town following a raid at a resort owned by the vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Party state unit Bernard N Marak on Saturday, PTI reported.
Superintendent of Police Vivekanand Singh said that a brothel was being operated from the building.
“We have rescued six minors – four boys and two girls – who were found locked inside dingy cabin-like unhygienic rooms at Rimpu Bagan, run by Bernard N Marak and his accomplices as a brothel, for the purpose of prostitution,” Singh said. “Twenty-seven vehicles, eight two-wheelers, about 400 bottles of liquor, over 500 unused condoms, and crossbows and arrows were seized.” The children have been handed over to the district child protection officer for further action, he added.
The Meghalaya Police said that a case has also been registered against Marak under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act, 1956, the Hindustan Times reported. The police said they have asked Marak to surrender immediately and cooperate with the investigation.
“However, he has not cooperated and is evading arrest till now,” Singh said, according to the newspaper. “I urge him [Marak] to surrender at the earliest and not make it difficult for himself…We will find him and arrest him.” Marak, however, claimed he was not on the run and has been cooperating with the police.
He also denied the charges against him and alleged that the raid was carried out without a warrant on the instructions of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma.
“None of those detained was involved in any indecent activities,” Marak said, according to NDTV. “The police trespassed and harassed the minor students whom I was sponsoring to study and alleged them to be involved in sexual activities.”
He further added: “Matured [adult] individuals cannot be called a prostitute for partying and no home stay can be termed a brothel. Chief Minister [Conrad Sangma] has made things very personal by allowing police to frame his own voters for human trafficking.”
Marak is an elected member of the Garo Hill Autonomous District Council and has recently been in the news for criticising the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government. Marak’s party, the BJP, is an alliance partner of the Sangma-led National People’s Party in the government. Multiple complaints in the past
The Meghalaya Police on Saturday said that it had earlier received multiple verbal complaints about the resort from residents of the Tura town. In February, a missing girl, who was subsequently traced to the town, had alleged that she was taken to the Rimpu Bagan resort and sexually assaulted by two persons.
“Later, it was ascertained that the minor was sexually assaulted multiple times over one week,” Singh said, according to the Hindustan Times. “A case was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 366A (procuration of minor girl), 376 (punishment for rape) and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.”
Courtesy: The Scroll