Bahujan Samaj Party worker Anil Sonkar, faced with the charge of raping a 19-year-old girl from the Narwal locality, decided to marry her at the insistence of the local police and party MP from Bilhaur Anil Shukla Warsi. More so, because he has “wronged her and marrying her would compensate somewhat for the loss,” Sonkar, the BSP worker, told The Indian

Express.

The girl’s father Chandra Pal had gone to the Narwal police on Friday to lodge a complaint of rape against Sonkar. Within hours, he was forced to accept Sonkar as his son-in-law. It is learnt MP Warsi forced the two parties to reach a compromise. The marriage was solemnised at the Narwal police station.

Chandra Pal said: “On Thursday night, my daughter was raped by Sonkar when we were attending a marriage reception at our neighbour’s. I went to the the Narwal station to file a complaint against him on Friday. But we were forced to reach a compromise when Warsi called up the police station and directed the station officer to sort out the issue.”

Station officer Sharma said he had hauled up Sonkar soon after Pal had lodged the complaint of rape. He said Sonkar’s family was interested in the marriage but the girl’s family wasn’t. Sharma said, “I thought marriage was a better option. It saved the boy from jail and the girl from humiliation.”

Learning of their reluctance to the marriage, Sonkar approached Warsi.

He told The Indian Express: “I was not prepared to marry the girl initially but the police warned me I would go to jail. I also did her wrong. I did not want to marry her because she is an illiterate village girl,” Sonkar said. He has a Master’s degree in humanities.

... contd.