Mayawati orders release of Banda rape victim

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday ordered the release of the teenaged Dalit girl, who was allegedly raped by a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA and put behind bars on false theft charges.

“From the prima facie it seems that the girl was wrongly framed by the MLA in theft case… will constitute fast-track court to get justice… if the MLA is found guilty of raping the girl will act against the MLA,” said Maya on occasion of her birthday celebrations here.

The BSP chief brushed off allegations of inaction in the case by the Opposition and said the UP government will deal with the matter seriously.

“The CB-CID (Crime Branch of Criminal Investigation Department) is probing the case and the government will not take the matter lightly. The UP government is very serious about the matter,” said Maya.

She also defended her stand in the case and dumped criticism by Opposition who said Maya is more interested in spending her birthday lavishly, than respond to the Dalit girl?s woes.

“The Opposition and people are talking many baseless things about my birthday celebrations, this shows their attitude towards Dalit, the more they talk about my jewellery and clothes, my parents and well-wishers who have come to wish me, the more their fundamentalist mentality will be exposed,” the UP Chief Minister said.

On Friday, the victim said she was sexually assaulted by the BSP legislator.

“I stand by my allegations.The MLA raped me,” she told a court in Banda district where she was produced during the day (Friday).

The court will hear her bail petition on Jan 17 while her lawyer demanded that the case be shifted out of the state.

BSP legislator Purshottam Naresh Dwivedi, who allegedly raped the 17-year-old Dalit girl, was arrested on Thursday.

Banda police arrested Dwivedi after he appeared before a local court. The arrest comes 31 days after the incident.

His two aides and co-accused in the case were arrested on Wednesday.

Another co-accused Ravan Garg is still absconding.

The Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday cleared the decks for the arrest of the BSP legislator.

However, the rape charge was denied by the MLA who said he had merely given shelter to the girl since her father, a party worker, was not able to support her.

The girl’s father has put forth the claim that she had been abducted by a boy and had approached Dwivedi to help him rescue her after being turned down by the police, reports said.

He said that after having her rescued, Dwivedi told him that the girl should stay at his residence for safety.

But on Dec 13, the girl purportedly called her father saying that she had escaped after being raped by the MLA and his men. Two days later the police arrested the girl on the charges of theft, filed by the MLA’s son.

A police official was quoted as saying that the girl has confessed to stealing Rs 7,000 in cash, apart from a phone and some clothes from the MLA’s house.

Seizing the opportunity, the Opposition Congress has called for a high-level judicial probe.