Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravindra Bawanthade has been arrested in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district on charges of rape. A 19-year-old woman had approached police after a video went viral showing Bawanthade forcibly kissing her in a moving bus.
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According to reports, the incident took place when they were travelling from Nagpur to Gadchiroli. Bawanthade was recorded on a CCTV camera on the bus.
The woman alleged that Bawanthade had promised to marry her and also help her find a job. A TOI report said that the 48-year-old man had been working as a supervisor in a school in Chandrapur. The complainant had also been a student at the school.
The FIR states that the man forced himself on her in his car near Navarkhed.
Ashok Nete, Gadchiroli Lok Sabha member and senior BJP leader, said that Bawanthade does not work with the party anymore. Bawanthade was apparently removed from the party after he failed to attend meetings.
