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Complainant in former UP minister Gayatri Prajapati rape case arrested
The woman was arrested in compliance of a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against her for failing to record statement despite multiple reminders from the Lucknow MP/MLA court
LUCKNOW: The woman who has accused former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prajapati and six others of gang rape, was on Wednesday arrested in compliance of a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against her for failing to record statement despite multiple reminders from the court, police said.
“The woman has been arrested in compliance with the NBW issued by the Lucknow MP/MLA court and produced before it for further legal proceedings. The court issued the NBW against her for not turning up as witness against one Ashish Shukla, one of the seven accused in the gang-rape case against the minister and his aides,” said KK Tiwari, inspector in-charge of Gomti Nagar police station.
On February 18, 2017, the woman had lodged a first information report (FIR) against the former minister and his six aides alleging they gang-raped her attempted to rape her daughter (then minor).
Besides former Samajwadi Party (SP) minister Prajapati, the six others accused named in the FIR were Ashok Tewari, Pintu Singh, Vikas Verma, Chandra Pal, Rupesh and Ashish Shukla.
The FIR was registered under sections 376-D (gang-rape) and 376/511 (attempt to rape) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
The woman had alleged that she was raped at the minister’s official residence in Lucknow.
Former UP transport minister Prajapati was arrested in March 2017.
In September 2020, the woman’s former lawyer DC Tripathi had accused her of turning hostile in the rape case against Prajapati after receiving several benefits. The woman had also lodged an FIR against the lawyer and one Ram Singh for rape in Chitrakoot in June, 2019.
