<p class="title rtejustify">Surat police today said the woman who had lodged a rape case against former BJP MLA Jayanti Bhanushali, which led to his ouster from the party, was untraceable.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The 21-year-old victim, a resident of Surat, had written to the police on July 10 seeking registration of a rape case against the BJP MLA who represented the Abdasa constituency between 2007 and 2012.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Police Commissioner Satish Sharma said the woman had failed to appear before the police despite being issued summons.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"We had tried to contact the complainant and sent her summons on the address given in the letter received in order to record her statement," Sharma said.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"A notice was pasted on the door of the house of the complainant as nobody was present there when police arrived," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"She is untraceable. We are trying to contact her but have failed so far," he said further.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Noting that the victim had not approached the police in person or through a relative but through a third person to file the complaint, Sharma said an FIR was yet to be filed in the case.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The commissioner said that the victim's identity was still unclear as they had received another letter in April from a woman sharing the same name as the complainant urging the police to ignore any complaint against the BJP leader.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"We had received another notarised letter in her name, sent to us in April, saying that somebody is trying to make a false application in her name against Bhanushali. She had asked the police to ignore such a complaint," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">In the wake of the allegations, the 53-year-old leader from Kutch district had to step down as the party's state vice-president. In his resignation letter, accepted by state BJP president Jitu Vaghani, Bhanushali denied all allegations against him.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">In her complaint, the victim alleged that the former MLA raped her on several occasions since last November after promising to get her admitted to a reputed fashion design institute. The act was videographed by one of his assistants, she alleged.</p>
<p class="title rtejustify">Surat police today said the woman who had lodged a rape case against former BJP MLA Jayanti Bhanushali, which led to his ouster from the party, was untraceable.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The 21-year-old victim, a resident of Surat, had written to the police on July 10 seeking registration of a rape case against the BJP MLA who represented the Abdasa constituency between 2007 and 2012.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Police Commissioner Satish Sharma said the woman had failed to appear before the police despite being issued summons.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"We had tried to contact the complainant and sent her summons on the address given in the letter received in order to record her statement," Sharma said.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"A notice was pasted on the door of the house of the complainant as nobody was present there when police arrived," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"She is untraceable. We are trying to contact her but have failed so far," he said further.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Noting that the victim had not approached the police in person or through a relative but through a third person to file the complaint, Sharma said an FIR was yet to be filed in the case.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The commissioner said that the victim's identity was still unclear as they had received another letter in April from a woman sharing the same name as the complainant urging the police to ignore any complaint against the BJP leader.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"We had received another notarised letter in her name, sent to us in April, saying that somebody is trying to make a false application in her name against Bhanushali. She had asked the police to ignore such a complaint," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">In the wake of the allegations, the 53-year-old leader from Kutch district had to step down as the party's state vice-president. In his resignation letter, accepted by state BJP president Jitu Vaghani, Bhanushali denied all allegations against him.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">In her complaint, the victim alleged that the former MLA raped her on several occasions since last November after promising to get her admitted to a reputed fashion design institute. The act was videographed by one of his assistants, she alleged.</p>