BJP MLA Ravindra Nath Tripathi’s nephew Sandeep Tiwari has been arrested. The MLA and six of his family members were booked in a gang-rape case.
New Delhi| Police on Saturday gave a clean chit to local BJP MLA Ravindra Nath Tripathi in a gangrape case as “no evidence” was found against him and arrested his nephew, officials said.
“Five others, who had also been named in an FIR lodged on Wednesday, were also absolved of rape charges by the district police,” they said.
The Bhadohi MLA’s nephew Sandeep Tiwari, who was the main accused in the case, has been arrested. One of the MLA sons, Nitesh, was charged under section 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
An FIR was filed against UP BJP MLA Ravindranath Tripathi and six others on Wednesday for allegedly raping a woman repeatedly for a month in 2017, police said.
The woman, 40, lodged a complaint on February 10 accused Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Ravindranath Tripathi and six others of raping her in Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh.
“The woman, whose husband died in 2007, met MLA Ravindranath Tripathi’s nephew in 2014. She said that she was physically exploited by him for many years on the pretext of marriage,” police official Ram Badan Singh said.
She added that the MLA’s nephew kept her in a Bhadohi hotel for a month during the 2017 Uttar Pradesh polls where she was raped by the MLA and his family, police said.
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She also claimed that she got pregnant and was forced to undergo an abortion, he said.
A probe in this regard was handed over to Assistant Superintendent of Police Ravindra Verma. After he submitted his report, an FIR was registered against the seven men at the city police station, the officer added.
However, Tripathi dismissed the rape allegations, saying he had no information in this regard.
“During the investigation, no evidence was found against the Bhadohi MLA and five others. They have been given a clean chit,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Ram Badan Singh told newspersons.
“Tripathi’s nephew Sandeep Tiwari has been arrested on the charge of rape,” he said.
Another member of the family, Neetesh, who had been named in the FIR, has been booked for manhandling and abusing the woman, he added.
“The team failed to find any evidence to corroborate her charges,” Singh said.
The woman also refused to undergo a medical examination, he added.
Previously many BJP MLAs and even cabinet members are accused and some have been booked for rape and other sexual offences.
Swami Chinmayanand, Bhojpal Singh, Venkatesh Maurya, Nihal Chand are a few BJP MLAs who have been accused but not convicted yet.
Kuldeep Singh Sengar, Vijay Jolly, BJP Corporator Bhosale, Hamid Sardar, Pramod Gupta are a few BJP MLAs who have been convicted of rape and have been sentenced.
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