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DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand cabinet minister Rekha Arya’s husband, Girdhari Lal Sahu, released a video on Friday accusing her of corruption and alleging that she filed a police complaint against him on the basis of an AI-generated audio clip.In the video, Sahu questioned Arya’s decision to approach the police and demanded that she withdraw the allegations against him.“You have filed an FIR on the basis of an AI audio,” he said.Sahu also claimed that Arya was confident of remaining a minister for life and alleged that he had played a key role in her political rise.“The whole of Uttarakhand knows that I brought you to power,” he said, warning that she would not be forgiven by Baba Bankhandi Nath if she did not withdraw the allegations.“Wherever you are today is because of me,” he added.Sahu also accused Arya of corruption, alleging that she had amassed Rs 200 crore through corrupt practices. These allegations have not been independently verified.The video comes a day after Arya, a cabinet minister in the BJP government in Uttarakhand, filed an FIR against Sahu at Dehradun’s Cantt police station on October 15.She accused him of physical assault, harassment, caste-based abuse and death threats.
The FIR includes provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.In her complaint, Arya alleged that Sahu had concealed his previous marriage from her and that she later discovered he had a wife and children from an earlier relationship. She said she chose to remain silent at the time, following advice from family members and keeping their children’s future in mind.Arya further alleged that Sahu continued relationships with other women despite apologising to her, and that he subjected her to physical assault and verbal abuse when she objected.She also claimed to have obtained an audio recording in which Sahu was allegedly heard conspiring with a woman to kill her.After filing the complaint, Arya shared a video and the audio recording on social media, saying she had approached the police to protect her children. She urged women not to remain silent about domestic abuse, regardless of their social standing.
Arya’s health reportedly deteriorated following the developments, and she was admitted to a hospital.