Big blow to Akhilesh: FIR lodged against senior SP leader Gayatri Prajapati in rape cases

With the Supreme Court breathing down its neck, Uttar Pradesh Police filed an FIR against tainted senior minister Gayatri Prajapati on Saturday, in connection with cases of alleged gang rape and attempt to rape a woman and her minor daughter. The apex court had directed the police to book the minister on Friday, who is a senior leader of the ruling Samajwadi Party.

Circle Officer of Hazratganj, Avanish Kumar Mishra, said the FIR was lodged against the cabinet minister and six of his accomplices under various sections of the IPC and POCSO Act. He said the FIR was lodged in Gautampalli Police Station in Lucknow.

The apex court's direction came on a PIL filed by a woman who alleged repeated gang rape by Prajapati and others and sought the court's direction for lodging of an FIR.

The alleged incident had first taken place in October 2014 and continued till July 2016 and when the accused tried to molest the minor daughter of the petitioner, she decided to lodge a complaint after her written request to the DGP in October 2016 went unheeded. Since no FIR was lodged, she moved the apex court seeking justice.

However, speaking to ANI, Prajapati said that it was a politically motivated move by BJP to tarnish his image because he belongs to a poor family. He also claimed that he doesn't even know the victim. 

Prajapati was sacked by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav from his cabinet in 2016 during the family feud with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav but was later reinstated in the council of ministers.