Suspended RJD MLA convicted in rape case

PATNA: A special MP & MLA court here on Saturday convicted suspended RJD MLA Rajballabh Yadav and five others in a case pertaining to rape of a 16-year-old girl more than two-and-a-half years ago. The girl was raped at Yadav’s house at Pathra English village under the Mufassil police station area in Nawada district on February 6, 2016.
The five others who were held guilty by special MP & MLA court judge-cum-ADJ IX Parshuram Singh Yadav are Sulekha Devi, her daughters Radha Kumari and Amrita Kumari alias Choti, Amrita’s husband Sandeep Suman and one Tushi Kumari.
The court has fixed December 21 as the date for pronouncing the quantum of punishment for the six convicts. Yadav, who represents Nawada assembly constituency, was suspended from the RJD after an FIR was lodged against him in connection with the case.
Sulekha and Amrita had lured the girl to Singh’s house on the pretext of joining a birthday party. She was, however, raped by the MLA there. The girl was studying in Class X then and staying in a private hostel at Biharsharif in Nalanda district along with her elder sister. Sulekha was her neighbour at Biharsharif.
Sulekha had dropped the girl off at her hostel after the incident. The rape survivor’s elder sister had lodged an FIR in connection with the case with the women’s police station in Nalanda on February 9, 2016.
Special public prosecutor Shyameshwar Dayal said even though all evidences were destroyed by the accused, the rape survivor’s statement against the MLA and others helped prosecution establish that Rajballabh had actually raped her and the five others connived with him to execute the crime. Dayal was assisted by advocate Hemant Kumar Lal in the case.
“The girl’s statement was corroborated by the statements of her father and two elder sisters. Forensic examinations of bed sheets and other materials failed to find anything as they were washed by the accused. The medical report had, however, indicated that the girl was raped,” Dayal said, adding Sulekha had taken Rs 30,000 from the MLA to bring the girl to his house.
Dayal said Yadav and others were held guilty under sections 376 (punishment for rape) and 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault), 7 (touching private parts of child with sexual intent) and 8 (punishment for sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012.
Patna civil court public prosecutor Vijay Sinha said if Yadav was sentenced for two years or above, he would be disqualified as member of the state assembly under the amended rules of the Representation of The People Act and barred from contesting elections unless a higher court acquitted him.