delhi

Updated: Sep 18, 2015 19:01 IST

A Delhi court has put on trial a BJP MLA from Gurgaon and two others for allegedly drugging and raping a 30-year-old woman in a hotel in Faridabad.

The court framed charges against MLA Umesh Aggarwal and Sandeep Luthra for alleged offences of rape, assault, poisoning, criminal intimidation and abetment.

According to the police, Aggarwal and Luthra drugged the woman and raped her with the help of another woman Rekha Rani. The three accused also threatened the rape survivor should she try and raise an alarm or report the crime, the police said.

While framing charges, additional sessions judge Nivedita Anil Sharma said, "prima facie it appears that accused ...committed offences."

The accused have pleaded not guilty. Accordingly, the trial will begin on October 1, with recording of prosecution witness testimony.

While framing the charges, the court observed that prima facie it appeared that the woman had been drugged in Aggarwal's hotel room, after being taken there from Delhi with Rani's help.

After the victim lost consciousness, Aggarwal and Luthra allegedly raped her on the intervening night of January 3 and 4.

The FIR was registered on January 5 by the woman. Later, Agarwal claimed that the woman had withdrawn her complaint.

When contacted over phone, the Gurgaon MLA Umesh Aggarwal refused to comment on the issue.