In a new twist to the Satyendar Jain jail-massage controversy, sources on Tuesday said that the person administering massage on Jain was not a physiotherapist, furthermore, he has been identified as a rape accused too.
Jailed Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain, who was criticised over the viral CCTV video inside the Tihar, was being given a massage by an accused in a rape case, the official sources claimed on Tuesday. The Tihar Jail official sources claimed that the prisoner, identified as Rinku, was “not a physiotherapist” and has been charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
“The masseur providing massage to jailed Delhi min Satyendar Jain is a prisoner Rinku. He’s a prisoner in a rape case, charged u/s 6 of POCSO Act and 376, 506 & 509 of IPC. He’s not a physiotherapist,” the sources claimed. This comes a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal denied BJP’s allegations of Jain being given a ‘massage’ inside the jail, and claimed that it was ‘physiotherapy’.
The war of claims and counter-claims from BJP and AAP has been underway since the CCTV footage came to the fore on 19 November.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also on Saturday had claimed that the CCTV footage that went viral showing Jain being given a full-body massage was a “treatment for injury”. “Only BJP can make cruel jokes by leaking CCTV footage of an injured person’s treatment… His (Satyendar Jain’s) spine was damaged, it’s on record,” Sisodia had said on Saturday.
However, the Deputy Chief Minister’s claim was refuted by the Indian Association of Physiotherapists. The body also demanded an apology for “degrading physiotherapy”.
Calling out the Minister, the Indian Association of Physiotherapists tweeted on Saturday, “IAP strongly condemns the statement of the minister degrading physiotherapy by comparing it with massage given to another minister. Shows the level of education and knowledge they have about our noble profession.”
The association said, “We can say that the session going on was not physiotherapy. It is a way of degrading physiotherapy. We strongly condemn this act. We want that the Minister or whosoever should apologise for that,” he said