Pune: The Bibwevadi police on Thursday registered a case against former Shiv Sena MLA of Solapur district for raping a 37-year-old woman. The accused, identified as Uttam Prakash Khandare was also a former state minister in the 1995 coalition government. He allegedly raped the woman at knife point at IB Rest House in Pune.
The opposition parties have condemned the incident, seeking strict action against the leader. Police have taken cognisance of the matter and said that they are thoroughly probing the case.
According to sources, the accused had gotten into a relationship with the complainant around 10 years back, and had promised to marry her. Khandare, aged 65, was a Shiv Sena MLA from Solapur during 1994-1999. When the Shiv Sena-BJP party was in power in Maharashtra, he served as the minister for social justice and minister for sports.
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In a similar incident last month, a case was registered at the Kothrud police station here against a man for allegedly raping a woman on the pretext of marriage. Also, the man had allegedly extorted money from the woman saying he was urgently in need of money for his mother's treatment. When the woman demanded the money back after some time, the man abused and threatened her. After realizing that she had been cheated, the girl lodged a complaint with the police.
