New Delhi: Delhi Police has registered a complaint against AAP leader Ashutosh for his remarks in his blog in defence of sacked AAP minister Sandeep Kumar facing the charge of rape.
In his blog, Ashutosh had defended Sandeep Kumar over an "objectionable" CD, saying it was a "consensual" act and that he had done no wrong.
The complaint filed at Jyoti Nagar Police Station in northeast Delhi has demanded police send Ashutosh for a "mental check up" and register a case against him under appropriate law.
Complainant Subodh Jain, RTI activist and former journalist, said Ashutosh's argument in defence of Sandeep Kumar that it was a matter of his "personal life" is a sign of his "warped mindset".
"Now that the debauchery of his own party leader has been exposed Ashuotosh's argument of private life and his questioning of Mahatma Gandhi's character is a sign of his warped mindset," Jain said in his complaint.
The complainant further added that Ashutosh's "low-grade" argument has "deeply hurt" him as well as a large number of people in the country and all over world.
Ashutosh in a blog had referred to the reported relationships of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru with women to defend Kumar over the "objectionable" CD showing him in a compromising position with a woman and claimed that he was sacked as a minister for "perception management".
"We have received the complaint against Ashutosh and it is being looked into for further action. No case has been registered so far," said a senior police officer.
Ashutosh has come under sharp attack from Opposition parties as well as some AAP leaders, who have criticised his blog in support of Kumar drawing parallels with Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The National Commission for Women also summoned Ashutosh for his controversial blog. "We have asked him to come on September 8. This is in response to what we feel is a very reprehensible and demeaning blog Ashutosh wrote, where he defended a man accused of rape," NCW Chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam said.
"...The Commission has taken a note in the larger interest because we feel that as a spokesperson of a party that governs Delhi and a party whose members have been accused of many incidents of violence against women he should not be writing a blog like this which reeks of patriarchy and misogyny," she said.
The NCW Chairperson also said Ashutosh jumped the gun in terming the incident as an act among two consenting adults when a criminal investigation is underway. "Why did he jump the gun. The police had taken cognisance immediately and there was no shroud on what action the police had taken. Jumping the gun is also a sign of patriarchy in our country. This is not a blog especially the spokesperson of a party, whose minister committed the crime, should be allowed to get away with," Kumaramangalam said.
"...also, Ashutosh says that because Mao Zedong did it, it's okay. Because other people did it, it's okay. When you are in public life there are standards of rectitude that everybody is supposed to adhere to, man or woman," she said.
In his blog on a news website Ashutosh had written, "This video encompasses pictures of a man and woman indulging in a sexual act. The video clearly establishes that both individuals knew each other and consented to sex in a private space away from the public glare. The question then is that if two consenting adults are physically involved with each other, is it a crime?"
Kumar was arrested on Saturday night after a woman seen in a video with him in a "compromising position" complained that she had been drugged and raped a year ago.
