The Uttar Pradesh police booked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Ravindranath Tripathi, his nephew, and five other family members on Wednesday for allegedly raping a woman.
The survivor, who is said to be in her 30s had filed a complaint against the Bhadohi MLA for raping her from 2016 to 2017 and forcing her to undergo abortion while she was two-month pregnant and, Hindustan Times reported.
According to Bhadohi Superintendent of Police (SP), Rambadan Singh, the woman had alleged that Sandip Tripathi, the lawmaker’s nephew, met her on a Mumbai-bound 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,’ the SP said. The woman who was widowed some years ago has alleged that Sandip and five others raped her on multiple occasions. She also alleged that the MLA Ravindranath Tripathi raped her on one occasion.
‘A team has been set up to investigate the allegations and a case has been registered against the accused,’ the SP added.
The other five accused in the case are identified as Nitesh, Prakash, Deepak, Sachin Tripathi, and Chandrabhushan Tripathi.
Denying the charges, the MLA claimed that neither he nor his relatives have ever known the woman. Tripathi claimed he had been fighting against the land mafia in the region because of which he is being targeted by Gyanpur lawmaker Vijay Mishra, who has 78 criminal cases registered against him.
Tripathi is the third BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh who has been charged in a rape case. In August 2019, the BJP had expelled another Uttar Pradesh lawmaker, Kuldeep Singh Sengar, two years after he was accused of raping a 17-year-old girl.
The expulsion occurred 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. A speeding truck had rammed the car in which the four were travelling. Sengar was convicted for kidnapping and raping the woman in December 2019.
In August, former BJP MP and Union Minister from Uttar Pradesh Swami Chinmayanand was charged for kidnapping and criminal intimidation after a 23-year-old law student accused him of sexual harassment.
A number of other BJP MLAs and even cabinet members have earlier been accused and booked for rape and other sexual offences. Among people who have been accused but not yet convicted are Bhojpal Singh, Venkatesh Maurya and Nihal Chand. Others like Vijay Jolly, BJP Corporator Bhosale, Hamid Sardar and Pramod Gupta have been accused and convicted of rape and sentenced.
https://thelogicalindian.com/news/ravindranath-tripathi-rape-19677
Also Read: MP Panchayat Orders Family To Marry Off Minor Daughter To Atone For Accidentally Killing Calf
