Jaipur, Feb 27 (IANS): Rajasthan Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar on Tuesday accused former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of playing politics over an alleged rape victim.

The woman was allegedly raped last year during the Congress rule in the state, when Gehlot also held the home portfolio. The accused, who was put behind bars, was released on bail after only two months, following which he started threatening the victim to withdraw the case.

The woman had reportedly raised the matter with the police, but no action was taken. On Saturday, the accused allegedly attacked the woman brutally following which she has been battling for her life at a Jaipur Hospital, where Gehlot went to meet her on Monday.

Khimsar on Tuesday accused the then Congress government of failing to register a case under the relevant sections of the law, due to which the accused rapist was released on bail in just two months time.

Incidentally, the victim woman tested positive for Covid on Tuesday, following which she has been isolated in the hospital, confirmed health officials.

The Health Minister questioned the visit of Gehlot to the hospital on Monday, claiming that it shows that politics is being played on a 'heart-wrenching' issue.

"How can a rapist be released on bail in just two months under the Congress rule," Khimsar asked while speaking to IANS.

The case should have been registered under harsher sections of the law so that the accused stayed put in jail, he added.

The victim was attacked brutally by the accused rapist on Saturday in Kotputli Behror district, a few metres away from the police station when she was going out with her brother on a Scooty.

The accused and his accomplice attacked her 21 times with a sharp-edged weapon before shooting her on the spine. They left her in an injured condition thinking that she had died.

Incidentally, the accused while fleeing from the spot after attacking the girl lost both his legs after coming under a moving train in his bid to escape from the police.