This story is from June 11, 2019

Tripura MLA marries woman he was accused of raping

Following weeks of legal and political pressure, IPFT legislator Dhananjoy Tripura on Sunday married the woman he is accused of raping and deceiving.
Tripura MLA marries woman he was accused of raping
Dhananjoy Tripura (Photo courtesy: Facebook)
AGARTALA: Following weeks of legal and political pressure, IPFT legislator Dhananjoy Tripura on Sunday married the woman he is accused of raping and deceiving.
"I married her at Chaturdas Devata temple in Agartala," Dhananjoy told the media on Monday. The woman said she will withdraw all cases against the MLA. Dhananjoy, 28, represents the Raima Valley constituency in the Tripura assembly.

Last week, the Tripura high court had rejected Dhananjoy's anticipatory bail plea and sought a report from police explaining why "marriage was not solemnised in a time-bound manner". The public prosecutor had then told the court that the accused had been absconding and attempts to arrest him had failed. Dhananjoy, however, maintained that he had been "framed" as part of a political conspiracy. IPFT insiders, meanwhile, said party leaders had been displeased with the "dispute" and had advised Dhananjoy to marry the woman.
The woman had filed a case against him on May 20 at the Agartala women's police station, accusing Dhananjoy of raping and deceiving her by not marrying her.
'Was still in school when I met Dhananjoy for the first time'
I was still in school when we met in 2010. He was a college student at Jirania. A year later, we got involved and I had been to his house several times. He had then promised to marry me. I was physically abused but I did not think he would deny our relations," she had told the police.
She took up the matter with IPFT president NC Debbarma, who held "reconciliation meetings" between them and arrived at a March 2017 wedding date. Because of the assembly election, however, the wedding was postponed several times. The woman said Dhananjoy stopped all contact after he was elected as an MLA in February 2018.

In December 2018, it was decided that the wedding would be solemnized in April this year. However, Dhananjoy was a no-show again. "When our family asked what had happened, his elder brother demanded Rs 8 lakh from us. When we refused, Dhananjoy said he would not marry me," she had told the police.
Her mother had said they were left with no option and had to take the matter to the police. "He was charged with rape by promising to marry the girl, cheating and breach of trust," she added.
Read this report in Bengali
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