Woman held for trying to 'defame' BJP MLA Kaushik Vekariya gets bail; Oppn slams Gujarat govt over her parade video

Amreli: A woman arrested in Amreli in Gujarat for alleged involvement in a conspiracy to defame a BJP MLA was granted bail by a local court on Friday, while a video showing her being paraded by police got her support from opposition parties and community outfits.

Payal Goti (25) was among four persons arrested on December 29 for allegedly trying to defame BJP MLA Kaushik Vekariya on social media. She was granted regular bail by Amreli sessions court judge Rizwana Bukhari after the prosecution did not object to her plea.

Goti used to work as a computer operator in the office of BJP worker and key accused Manish Vaghasiya, who along with two other accused are still behind bars.

On December 29, Amreli police had arrested BJP worker Manish Vaghasiya, Goti, BJP sarpanch Ashok Mangroliya and Jeetu Khatra in the case.

As per police, Vaghasiya, a former taluka panchayat president, used a fake letterhead, signature and stamp of complainant Kishor Kanpariya, who is president of Amreli taluka panchayat, to spread messages on social media with the aim of tarnishing MLA Vekariya's image.

Vaghasiya was targeting Vekariya and Kanpariya since he believed the two were coming in the way of his becoming BJP's Amreli taluka president, police had said on December 29.

Goti had typed and printed the content on the forged letterhead, as per police, while Mangroliya and Khatra had shared that PDF file on Whatsapp despite knowing it was fake, police said.

After a video of Amreli police parading Goti and the three other accused publicly went viral on social media, the opposition Congress and Aa Aadmi Party slammed the ruling BJP.

These parties said the BJP government in the state was "tarnishing the honour of a young and unmarried Patidar woman" by parading her as if she was a "hardened criminal". These parties said her kin had claimed she was picked up from her house at midnight by police.

Khodaldham Trust, an organisation of Patidars, slammed the police, while netizens also condemned the treatment meted out to Goti.

"She is just a typist who comes from a very humble background and works for a salary of Rs 10,000. She had just followed the orders of her boss and typed that letter. This was her only crime. But police treated her like a hardened criminal and paraded her on the road," Congress working president Lalit Kagathra said.

"Amreli police and the BJP government are playing with the honour of a young woman because of BJP's internal politics. What was the need to parade an unmarried young woman and jeopardise her future marriage prospects" Kagathara asked.

AAP leader Gopal Italia said the BJP government shields scamsters but punishes a woman who was just doing her job.

During the day, senior BJP leader Dileep Sanghani, who is also chairman of Amreli district cooperative bank, met Goti in jail. The bank later said it would give her a job.

After the court order, she was released from Amreli district jail in the evening. On her way home, Goti was greeted by people enroute.

Meanwhile, state health minister and government spokesperson Rushikesh Patel, on Wednesday, claimed she was not paraded but that the police was reconstructing the crime scene.

"From what I have learnt, it was not a parade. It was the reconstruction of the crime. She was taken there by police for that purpose only" Patel told reporters.