Shimla, Nov. 9 -- Trouble mounted for Himachal Pradesh BJP MLA Hans Raj, 42, who represents Churah assembly constituency in Chamba district, with the police invoking the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the third FIR registered against him after the complainant accused him of assaulting her when she was a minor. Additional superintendent of police Hitesh Lakhanpal said the case was registered under the POCSO Act at the women's police station in Chamba on Friday evening after the victim, who is in her early twenties, alleged that she was sexually abused by the MLA when she was a minor. Her statement was recorded before a magistrate and a medical examination was conducted. The MLA has been booked under Section 6 of POCSO (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) Act and Section 69 (sexual intercourse obtained through a false promise of marriage) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Raj, who is a former deputy speaker of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, has, however, denied the allegations against him and claimed that they were politically motivated. On October 14, former Shimla MP Virender Kashyap's son Brijeshwar was booked on for rape on false promise of marriage in Solan. The complainant accused Brijeshwar, who runs a private clinic in Solan, of making physical relations with her on the pretext of marriage. She said she lodged the complaint after she got to know that he was already married. On October 11, the Solan police arrested Ram Kumar Bindal, 81, an Ayurveda practitioner and the elder brother of state BJP chief Rajiv Bindal, for allegedly raping a 25-year-old woman. She had lodged the complaint on October 8 at the Solan women's police station, stating that the accused had assaulted her on the pretext of examining her. Both accused are behind bars. On November 6, the Chamba police had registered the second FIR against Hans Raj when the victim's father accused the MLA, his personal secretary Lekh Raj, and another associate, Muniyan Khan, of forcibly taking his daughter and him to Shimla and threatening them with dire consequences if they did not change their earlier statement. The FIR was registered at Tissa police station under Sections 140(3), 115(2), 351(2), 324(4), and 3(5) of the BNS for offences related to kidnapping, wrongful confinement, assault, and criminal intimidation. The first FIR against the MLA dates back to August 16, 2024. It was registered at the women's police station in Chamba. In that complaint, the woman accused Hans Raj of sending obscene messages, demanding nude photos, and threatening her. However, a few days later, she went live on social media and withdrew her allegations, claiming she had made them under mental duress. However, on November 3, 2025, the woman uploaded a seven-minute video on social media, alleging that the MLA had ruined her family and that she feared for her life. In response, Hans Raj released a video terming the allegations baseless and politically motivated. Subsequently, the woman's father held a press conference, accusing the MLA's aides of kidnapping them, breaking their mobile phones, and threatening to burn down their house if they did not withdraw the case. The chairperson of the state women's commission, Himachal Pradesh, Vidya Negi, on Saturday termed the allegations against BJP MLA and former deputy speaker Hans Raj as "serious" and urged the Chamba police to ensure a fair, impartial and in-depth investigation into the matter. Negi, speaking to media, said that the commission took suo motu cognisance of the incident after the video surfaced online and also received written requests from women demanding fair probe of the girl. Later a written complaint from the girl was received by commission, she said. "It has been four months since I took charge as chairperson, and during this period, we received this complaint first on social media and later formally. The girl has alleged that BJP MLA Hans Raj exploited her, threatened her, and that she faces a threat to her life. We have taken cognisance of the matter," Negi said. "Many women submitted written requests demanding a fair probe and justice for the girl. Acting on these, we spoke to the superintendent of police, Chamba, and asked for a thorough and unbiased investigation into what actually happened," she said, adding, "We have spoken to the SP and directed that the investigation should determine whether there is any real threat to the girl or her family on the ground. If such a threat exists, the police must ensure full security to them," Negi stressed....