Panaji, May 8 (IANS): The national General Secretary of the All India Mahila Congress, Apsara Reddy, on Wednesday backed the candidature of her party's candidate for the May 19 Panaji Assembly bypoll, who was chargesheeted in 2018 for allegedly raping a minor girl.

Addressing a press conference at the party's state headquarters here, Reddy said that Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate "truly believed in putting women in leadership roles," referring to the fact that his wife Jennifer was a Congress MLA from Taleigao.

When she was asked to comment on the string of criminal cases against Monserrate, including for the alleged rape of a minor girl in 2016 for which he was chargesheeted in 2018, Reddy said that cases were often foisted on politicians who were popular.

"When a political candidate becomes very popular, many cases are foisted on him. I am not saying he is innocent. I am not saying he is guilty either. Wait till the law takes its own course. It is wrong to paint a person in one way based on conjecture, rumour and media reports," Reddy said.

Last year Monserrate was chargesheeted under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 506 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Meanwhile, the state BJP on Wednesday said that Monserrate, as well as the Congress, should publish a list of crimes in which he was involved in print media as mandated by the electoral rules.

"We demand that they (Congress) publish his long list of crimes in the media so that people know their options well before voting," BJP spokesperson Damodar Naik said.

Monserrate is pitted against Sidharth Kuncalienkar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Subhash Velingkar of the Goa Suraksha Manch and Valmiki Naik of the Aam Aadmi Party.