lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Apr 18, 2019 18:52 IST

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, has alleged that she was tortured by the jail officials, who wanted her to confess to “killing Muslims” in the Malegaon blast case.

“They wanted me to say that I carried out an explosion and killed Muslims…I was beaten through day and night. They used spiked belts to beat me up in the jail after illegal detention...They abused me and threatened me to strip naked,” said Sadhvi Pragya on Thursday, according to news agency ANI.

She broke down during her address to the BJP workers in Bhopal, where the party cadres shouted chants of “jai shri Ram” (glory to Lord Ram).

Sadhvi Pragya is an accused in the Malegaon blast case. The blast took place in the Maharashtra town in September 2008. Seven people died in the blast while many others were injured.

#WATCH: Alleging torture by jail officials, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal, breaks down while addressing the party workers pic.twitter.com/UVUomvmJZ2 — ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2019

She was arrested in connection with the Malegaon blast by the Maharashtra anti-terrorist squad, which probed the case before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over in 2011.

The NIA gave her a clean chit and filed a closure report in the case against her citing retraction of statements by witnesses and the lack of physical evidence against her. However, the NIA court rejected the plea and ordered the probe agency to file chargesheet against.

She had been originally booked under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act along with other accused that included against Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya and Sameer Kulkarni. The MCOCA charges against Sadhvi Pragya were dropped by the court in 2017.

Sadhvi Pragya is currently is out on bail. Before being arrested, she was an active member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parisha, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. She was also associated with the Durga Vahini, the women’s wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

She joined the BJP earlier this week and named the party candidate, reportedly on the suggestion of the RSS, from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat.

Sadhvi Pragya faces senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh at the Bhopal parliamentary seat, which is considered a BJP stronghold. The party has held the Bhopal seat since 1989 Lok Sabha elections.