Bihar: Suspended RJD MLA convicted of raping minor, sentencing soon
What's the story
Bihar MLA Raj Ballabh Yadav was on Saturday convicted of raping a minor by a special Patna court. The case dates back to 2016 when the former RJD MLA from Nawada had raped the minor. The court will decide the quantum of punishment on December 21, said special public prosecutor Shyameshwar Dayal. Along with Yadav, the court also found five, including four women, guilty.
The case
Victim was lured under pretext of birthday party
The others who were convicted are Radha Devi, her daughter Sulekha Devi, Tusi Devi, her granddaughter Chhoti Devi, and Sumit Suman alias Pushpanjay. The 205-page charge-sheet, which the police filed in 2016, highlighted that Sulekha lured the victim. The victim, a girl from Bihar Sharif, was told she was being taken to a birthday party. But Sulekha took her to the legislature's home instead.
What happened
Victim reached home in semi-conscious state, her family approached police
At his Pathra English locality residence, Yadav violated and brutalized the victim. She reached her home in a semi-conscious state prompting her parents to approach the police. After the case was registered in February 2016, Yadav went absconding. Back then the court had ordered his property to be seized. A member of the then ruling party, he was suspended as well.
Verdict
Prosecutor would press for maximum punishment
It was in March 2016 that Yadav surrendered in front of police as he feared confiscation of his property. The court found him guilty under IPC Section 376 and POCSO Act. The others, accused of supplying girls to Yadav, were charged under IPC Section 120(B). Dayal said they would press for maximum sentence since Yadav hatched a criminal conspiracy to rape the victim.