Probe rape charge against MLA: UP court tells police

A local court in Banda, Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday saw sufficient reason for a prima facie case against ruling Bahujan Samaj Party member of legislative assembly P N Dwivedi, who was accused of raping a minor girl.

Taking cognisance of a hand-written statement given by the victim, Banda Civil Judge Pervez Akhtar asked the superintendent of police to investigate the case and submit a report by January 14.

The victim, who is 17 years old, was allegedly gang-raped by the MLA and his henchmen, until she managed to escape from his captivity last week. By using his clout, Dwivedi allegedly managed to get her falsely implicated in a theft case in his own house, and she was then sent to jail.

When the case was highlighted in the media and drew much criticism from different opposition parties, Chief Minister Mayawati suspended Dwivedi and ordered a probe by the Crime Investigation Department.

When the victim was brought to the local court in Banda, in connection with the alleged theft case, she handed over a written statement to the judge.

"The statement pointedly accused the MLA of raping the victim twice and also letting three of his cohorts to rape her," her advocate Suresh Nishad told this scribe over the telephone from Banda.

"The MLA tried to coerce me to get married to his henchman Chiddu, so that he could continue using me. But I flatly refused to oblige, so I was kept under illegal confinement until I managed to escape from his clutches," stated the victim.

"But I could not go very far, as he got his men to track me down and had me put behind bars after registering a false case of theft against me, accusing me of stealing Rs 5,000 and his licensed weapon from his home," she added in her statement.

While the judge found enough reason for the registration of her case, he also took on board anther application for confirming her 'minor' status that has been  disputed by the local police.

"Now the judge has ordered the Banda chief medical officer to set up an independent medical board to assess her age and submit its report before the court by January 14," Nishad said.

But the court did not pass any order on yet another application moved by the CID, seeking sanction for recording the victim's statement in jail.