Bhadohi MLA, kin booked for rape
VARANASI: The Uttar Pradesh police booked on Wednesday ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Ravindranath Tripathi, his nephew, and five other family members for allegedly raping a woman in her midthirties from 2016 to 2017 and forcing her to abort her twomonth pregnancy, an officer said.
Bhadohi superintendent of police Rambadan Singh said the five had been charged under Indian Penal Code’s Sections 376 D (gang rape), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation). He identified the other accused as Sandip Tripathi, Nitesh, Prakash, Deepak, Sachin Tripathi and Chandrabhushan Tripathi.
VARANASI: The Uttar Pradesh police booked on Wednesday ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Ravindranath Tripathi, his nephew, and five other family members for allegedly raping a woman in her mid-thirties from 2016 to 2017 and forcing her to abort her two-month pregnancy, an officer said.
Bhadohi superintendent of police Rambadan Singh said the five had been charged under Indian Penal Code’s Sections 376 D (gang rape), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation). He identified the other accused as Sandip Tripathi, Nitesh, Prakash, Deepak, Sachin Tripathi and Chandrabhushan Tripathi. “A team has been constituted to investigate the matter,” he said.
Ravindranath Tripathi, who is a lawmaker from Bhadohi, denied the charges and said neither he nor his relatives had ever known the woman, who has registered an FIR at a police station in Bhadohi. He called the allegations baseless and said he and his family were being defamed at the behest of sand mining mafia.
The SP said the woman had told police that the lawmaker’s nephew got into a relationship with her in 2016 after promising to marry her. She has accused him of sexually exploiting her. The woman has alleged that she was put up at a hotel in Bhadohi, where the BJP lawmaker, his three sons, and two nephews also allegedly raped her during the 2017 Uttar Pradesh polls.
Rambadan Singh said the woman had alleged Sandip Tripathi, who is the lawmaker’s nephew, met her on a Mumbaibound train in 2014 when she was going to meet her parents. “She claimed that Sandip took her mobile number and started talking to her. She alleged that MLA’s nephew had established physical relations with her on the pretext of marrying her.” According to the SP , the woman claimed she told Sandip about the Bhadohi hotel incident, but he asked her to keep mum. He allegedly recently threatened her with dire consequences if she insisted on marrying him, according to her complaint.
Congress leader Ajay Rai said that strict action should be ensured against the accused. “The ruling party should explain what action it is going to take against its lawmaker.”
The BJP in August last expelled another UP lawmaker Kuldeep Singh Sengar, two years after he was accused of raping a 17-year-old girl. The expulsion came after Sengar was booked for his alleged involvement in a crash in which the accuser and her lawyer were injured while two of her aunts were killed.