Top lawyer Indira Jaising refuses to represent Kathua anti-rape crusader Talib Hussain in separate case after rape allegations against him surfaced.
New Delhi: Anti-rape crusader Talib Hussain, who rose to prominence in the wake of the Kathua gang rape and murder in January this year, has himself been accused of rape and assault by a JNU student.
Taking note of the allegations made by the JNU student on news portal Firstpost, noted Supreme Court lawyer Indira Jaising said she would not represent Hussain anymore in a separate case of his alleged torture in prison.
“In the light of the article published today on Firstpost, I do not intend to continue to appear on behalf of Talib Hussain anymore. I take the decision in view of my full support of the #MeToo movement,” she said.
Hussain, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, was jailed earlier this year on charges of raping a woman in Samba district. He is now out on bail.
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His estranged wife had also filed a case against him for allegedly torturing her and demanding dowry from her, a charge refuted by Hussain claiming the allegations were aimed at maligning him for seeking justice for the Kathua rape and murder victim.
The latest allegation
The JNU student, who anonymously wrote a piece on Firstpost in the wake of the #MeToo movement, did not name Hussain directly although she had given several references pointing at Hussain’s involvement.
She wrote that in April this year, Hussain had allegedly raped her on the pretext of marrying her.
ThePrint could not independently verify these allegations in the absence of the name of the victim or any other written complaints. ThePrint reached Hussain for comment but there was no response until the time of publishing this report.
The allegations come at a time when a fast-track court in Pathankot is hearing the Kathua rape and murder case. Hussain is also listed as one of the witnesses in the case.
What she said
The writer of the article claimed that she was one of the students who invited him to speak at JNU in April this year. She alleged that Hussain would call her up late night and describe his “sexual fantasies” about her.
She also claimed that he wanted to do “nikaah” (marry) with her.
She alleged that on 27 April, he had sent a text message saying that he would be in Delhi and would meet her.
She says that while she was not keen to meet him initially, she “ignored her own uneasy premonition of danger” and went to meet him.
She alleged that Hussain made her sit in a rented car, drove her to the Batla House locality and then took her to a one-room flat.
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She went on to allege that despite threatening to expose him before all her friends at JNU and resisting his rape attempts, he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
“I remember crying in pain; but instead, he mocked me, saying “Tum bohot naazuk ho.”
“All the while he raped me, he kept insisting that he would do ‘nikaah’ with me, as if by declaring his intention to marry he would legitimise what he was doing,” she wrote.
She alleged that when she confronted him, he said he did not intend to hurt her and that he had made a mistake.
She also alleged that she was not the only victim and there were many Muslim women who have been targeted by Hussain in the past.