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Ex-RJD MLA surrenders in court in minor’s rape case
Former RJD MLA from Sandesh assembly constituency in Bhojpur district of Bihar, Arun Yadav, who is accused of raping a minor girl in 2019, surrendered before the special POCSO court here on Saturday, a lawyer associated with the case said
Former RJD MLA from Sandesh assembly constituency in Bhojpur district of Bihar, Arun Yadav, who is accused of raping a minor girl in 2019, surrendered before the special POCSO court here on Saturday, a lawyer associated with the case said.
Saroj Kumari, special public prosecutor for POCSO (Protection of Children against Sexual offences) cases, said the court sent Yadav to jail custody and fixed the next hearing for July 29.
On July 18, 2019, a minor girl hailing from Ara escaped from Patna, allegedly from the clutches of people running a sex racket. On July 19, 2019, an FIR was lodged in Ara. On September 1, 2019, a video clip of the girl naming former MLA Arun Yadav went viral.
On September 6, the girl’s statement was recorded before a magistrate in the court.
The same month, a charge sheet was filed in the case against four people, except Arun Yadav against whom investigation was still continuing. On January 21, 2020, a charge-sheet was filed against Arun Yadav in the court, showing him as an absconder.
When Yadav did not appear in the court after repeated summons, a warrant and order for seizure of his property were issued and he was declared an absconder by court on February 27, 2020.
In the meantime, the court acquitted the four accused on December 16, 2021, after witnesses turned hostile during trial.
Talking to reporters on Saturday, the former MLA refuted all the allegations levelled against him. Asked why he had been absconding, he said he was suffering from kidney ailments.
