This development is seen as a serious blow to the Samajwadi Party particularly as it comes in the middle of the Assembly elections.
Days before the commencement of the third phase of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the state police to lodge an FIR against state Cabinet Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Gayatri Prajapati in connection with cases of gang rape and attempt to rape a woman and her daughter.
This development is seen as a serious blow to the Samajwadi Party particularly as it comes in the middle of the Assembly elections.
Prajapati was sacked by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav from his cabinet in 2016 when the family feud in the ruling Samajwadi Party was at its height. But he was later reinstated in the Council of Ministers on the insistence of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The victim claimed that she did not initially file an FIR as she feared for her life. However, her resolve to come forward strengthened when, during the last incident in July, the group who raped her, sexually abused her daughter as well. However, the 35-year-old victim said that even months after her initial complaint, no FIR was filed.
A bench comprising Justices AK Sikri and RK Agarwal further ordered UP Police to file a status report in this case within eight weeks. UP and Delhi Police have also been tasked to provide the victims with protection, pursuant to a November 2016 order.
Advocate Mehmood Pracha, the victim’s counsel submitted that despite complaining to the Director General of the Police (DGP), the UP police have not filed an FIR in the case. In response, the police in an affidavit stated that FIR was not filed since the charges couldn’t be ascertained. Elections in the state was cited as another reason for delay by the state’s counsel.
Though he was a Below-Poverty-Line (BPL) card holder, several have attested to his wealth. Chote Lal Yadav, SP’s Amethi president had once told the media that he had known Prajapathi since two decades atleast and in all that time he was well-to-do. Yadav said that Prajapathi had a jeep since the 1990s.
The former Mining Minister in the Akhilesh Government has had several brushes with the law. Prajapati is contesting elections from Amethi on an SP ticket. He had lost the seat 1993, 1996 and 2002. First time when he contested as a Bahujan Kranti Dal candidate, he polled only 1,526 votes. However, he surprisingly defeated Congress’s Amita Singh and won in 2012.
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