Gujjar activist arrested for raping woman

A prominent Gujjar activist has been arrested for reportedly raping a woman in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, the police said on Wednesday.

Talib Hussain was arrested following a complaint lodged on Tuesday by a woman who is his relative, a police official said.

In her complaint, the woman claimed that she was raped by Hussain a month-and-a half ago in Chadwa forest, he said.

Hussain, armed with a knife, intercepted the woman when she had gone to the forest for grazing cattle and also thrashed her, the complaint said.

The complainant said she remained silent for so long as Hussain had threatened to kill her and that she told her husband about the rape on Tuesday, the police official said.

He said the activist had also been booked under the Arms Act and an probe had been launched in the case.

Hussain shot into prominence after being at the forefront of a campaign to seek justice for an eight-year-old girl who was abducted, raped and murdered in Kathua district in January this year.

In June, Hussain's estranged wife registered a case against him for reportedly torturing her and demanding dowry, a charge, the activist said, "aimed at maligning him for raising his voice to seek justice for the Kathua rape and murder victim.

He was granted anticipatory bail by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in the case.