'Women should ask what culture they have': Irani flays AAP over leaked 'massage' clips of Satyendar Jain
Nov 25, 2022
Surat (Gujarat) [India], November 25 : Union Minister Smriti Irani on Friday lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over viral videos purportedly showing jailed Delhi minister Satyendar Jain getting a 'massage' from an alleged rapist at his Tihar cell.
Addressing a rally at Surat in poll-bound Gujarat on Friday, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development said, "I request women that if they come across any leader or worker of Aam Aadmi Party, ask them what kind of culture they have that their minister, who is lodged in Tihar jail, is availing personalised massage services from a man accused of raping a minor girl."
On Tuesday, official sources at Tihar jail claimed that Rinku, the prisoner who was administering massage on Jain, was 'not a physiotherapist' but has been charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 for allegedly raping a minor.
The AAP has been at the receiving end of barbs and volleys from the Opposition ever since the purported footage of Jain receiving an oil massage inside his cell surfaced ahead of the upcoming Delhi civic elections.
The purported CCTV footage, dated September 13, shows the minister lying on his bed while a man, seated next to him, is administering a massage on his foot.
In another video shared by BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on his official Twitter handle, a man is purportedly seen massaging the Delhi minister's legs and back before proceeding to give him a head massage.
The videos surfaced 10 days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED0 accused Jain, arrested in a money laundering case, of getting special treatment inside the Tihar jail.
Jain has been in jail since June. A Delhi court denied his bail application on November 16.
However, AAP refuted the allegations of special treatment, claiming that what is shown in the leaked videos is not 'massage' but 'physiotherapy'.
On November 19, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia claimed that the viral clips purportedly showing Jain being administered a full-body massage, was "treatment for an injury".
"Only BJP can make such cruel jokes by leaking CCTV footage of an injured person's treatment... His (Satyendar Jain's) spine was damaged, it's on record," Sisodia had said.
However, the Delhi deputy CM's claim was refuted by the Indian Association of Physiotherapists, which demanded that he tender an apology for 'degrading physiotherapy'.
Earlier, on Saturday, the former physiotherapist of the Tihar jail said what is purportedly seen in the viral clips is not physiotherapy as the footage clearly showed co-inmates giving him a massage.
Sunil Gupta, former PRO of the Tihar jail, told ANI that the purported video makes it clear that other prisoners at Tihar were giving the minister a massage.
"A massage is different from physiotherapy," he said.