Bihar: Suspended RJD MLA, 5 others convicted under IPC section and POCSO Act of raping a schoolgirl in February 2016

A special Patna court convicted Nawada member of Legislative assembly (MLA) Raj Ballabh Yadav of raping a schoolgirl at his residence in February 2016. Along with him, five others were also convicted in the rape case on Saturday.

The others convicted are Radha Devi, her daughter Sulekha Devi, Tusi Devi, her granddaughter Chhoti Devi, and Sumit Suman alias Pushpanjay. They were accused of supplying women and girls to the lawmaker.

Raj Ballabh Yadav was suspended form Lalu Prasad Yadav-led the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) a week after the incident. According to HT reports, Special member of Parliament (MP) & MLA court judge Parshuram Yadav convicted the MLA under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012. The co-accused were convicted under IPC section 120(B).

As per HT, according to the 205-page charge-sheet filed by Bihar police on April 20, 2016, Sulekha lured the girl from Bihar Sharif saying they were going for a birthday party but took her to Yadav’s residence in Pathra English locality of Nawada where she was violated and brutalized. After she reached home in a semi-conscious state, her family members lodged an FIR against the politician on February 8, 2016.

The court will announce the quantum of punishment on December 21, special public prosecutor Shyameshwar Dayal said. The prosecution would press for maximum sentence as the MLA hatched a criminal conspiracy to rape the minor girl, he added.

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