The controversy over the CCTV footage of jailed Delhi minister Satyendar Jain getting a massage inside the prison cell in Tihar Jail took a new turn on Tuesday with the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party claiming that the masseur seen in the video was not a professional physiotherapist, but a “prisoner in a rape case”.
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia on Tuesday said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal must apologise to the country for defending Jain over the massage incident, and demanded that the AAP leader be sacked as a Delhi minister.
“The man seen giving Satyendar Jain a massage is an accused in a heinous crime under the POCSO Act,” Bhatia said addressing the media in the national capital.
The Indian Express on Tuesday cited Tihar Jail sources as identifying the man seen in the footage as a prisoner in a rape case. “The masseur providing massage to Satyendra Jain is one prisoner Rinku S/o Tarachand. He is a prisoner in a rape case, charged under section 6 of POCSO and 376, 506 & 509 of IPC,” The Indian Express quoted official sources at the Tihar Jail as saying.
On Saturday, the BJP attacked the AAP after the purported video of the minister emerged in which he is seen getting a full body massage and having a discussion with about three to four men inside his cell.
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Bhatia added that Kejriwal must speak on the issue and come clean.
Earlier, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had come out in support of Jain saying he was undergoing “physiotherapy” based on doctor’s recommendation. “This is not a massage video, it is physiotherapy as Jain fell inside the jail and injured his spine. He underwent two surgeries and the doctors recommended physiotherapy,” he said.
“The BJP has stopped so low to gain votes that they are making fun of a sick man,” the deputy CM said, further adding that the matter has gained momentum ahead of the Gujarat and MCD elections, in which the saffron party was losing.