LUCKNOW: A special court of Varanasi on Saturday acquitted Bahujan Samaja Party MP Atul Rai in the rape case of a 24-year-old woman, who, along with her friend, died after committing self-immolation in front of the Supreme Court in August last year. The victim had filed a case against Rai, accusing him of raping her in 2019.
However, even after acquittal in the rape case, he would continue to remain in jail in the pending case of abetment of suicide of the victim filed in Lucknow, Rai’s lawyer Anuj Yadav said. Rai, who won the Lok Sabha election from the Ghosi seat of Mau district in 2019, has been lodged in Naini Central jail of Prayagraj for three years.
Sharing the details, government counsel Jyoti Shankar Upadhyay said Additional District and Session Judge Siyaram Chaurasia examined nine prosecution witnesses and 15 defence witnesses. However, the victim and her friend’s statements, recorded before their death, supported the prosecution theory, said Upadhyay.
Rai had contested the election on a BSP ticket from inside the jail. When contacted, the victim’s lawyer, Rajesh Yadav, said they would file an appeal against the judgment in the high court. The victim had submitted a police complaint against Rai in 2018, alleging that he had been sexually harassing her for nearly a year. He surrendered before a court on June 22, 2019, and was sent to judicial custody.
On Aug. 16 last year, the victim and her 27-year-old friend went live on Facebook, accusing Rai of intimidation, and immolated themselves. They took the name of former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur claiming that he helped Rai and harassed them.
The UP Police booked Rai and Thakur at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow for abetting the suicide of the two. Thakur was made to retire by the Union Home Ministry in March last year in “public interest”.
Rai not to walk out free yet
Even after acquittal in the rape case, Atul Rai would continue to remain in jail in the pending case of abetment of suicide of the victim filed in Lucknow, the BSP leader’s lawyer Anuj Yadav said.