PDP demands resignation of Kashmir Health Minister over molestation charge

The president of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti, has demanded the resignation of Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Shabir Ahmad Khan for allegedly molesting a lady doctor inside the civil secretariat in Srinagar.

The doctor in her complaint to the police alleged that the minister made provocative advances on her - both verbal and physical - and molested her when she met him for an official work.

Mufti demanded that Khan should be arrested and that the state government should answer as to why the filing of the report was taking so much time.

"After the acceptance of minister's resignation, we expect that the minister should be arrested since it is a non-bailable offence and thirdly, we want the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir to answer the reports as to why the FIR (first information report) of the woman, who has been trying to register a FIR from the last seven days, was not registered and why did she have to go to the court, only after which the report was registered," said Mufti.

The victim also alleged that Khan forced her to meet him to know about announcements made by Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad during visit to the hospital where she works.

Mufti also accused the Jammu and Kashmir Government of not registering the victim's complaint.

"If the FIR was not registered, this indicates that the government is trying to conceal the matter, and if the issue has come into public domain, what is the chief minister and the police doing? Why isn't there any investigation against him? Tarun Tejpal (Indian journalist accused in sexual assault case) was also heading an institution, and in this case, it is a minister," said Mufti.

Khan is a Congress party legislator.