Danish gangrape case: Somnath Bharti names survivor, admits mistake

New Delhi: Mired in controversies, Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti on Thursday committed a faux pas by revealing the name of the Danish woman, who was allegedly gangraped late on Tuesday night.

Bharti named the survivor in a press release issued on Wednesday night but later clarified that her identity was revealed “accidentally”.

He today acknowledged his mistake saying that minutes later he had issued two clarifications in which the survivor’s name was removed.

In the press release, Bharti stated that despite repeated requests by Delhi Police and Denmark Consulate, the survivor refused to undergo a medical test.

She also refused to stay here to identify the rapists and unable to cope with the mental agony she opted to leave for her country by the morning flight on Wednesday.

The 51-year-old Danish tourist was allegedly robbed and gangraped at knife-point near New Delhi railway station in the heart of the national capital by around six men on Tuesday night.

Earlier in the day, Bharti was at the centre of another raging row when he tried to raid an alleged drug and prostitution ring but the police refused to do his bidding citing lack of warrant.

Bharti and a top police official were involved in heated exchanges last night in a South Delhi locality and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today came out in defence of his ministerial colleague.

Previously, Bharti had landed in a controversy after he allegedly rebuked Law Secretary A S Yadav after the official opposed the proposal to convene a meeting of all judges of Delhi courts.

Two days back, he had come under severe attack from Congress and BJP over his being indicted by a court for “tampering of evidence” in a case in which he had appeared as a lawyer.

PTI