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Who is Seema Patra? 5 facts on suspended BJP leader held torturing domestic help
Seema Patra, believed to be in her 60s, is the wife for a former bureaucrat. She was the Jharkhand convenor of the BJP-led Centre's ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign.
Suspended Jharkhand BJP leader Seema Patra, who was on Wednesday arrested and later sent to police remand for 14 days, for allegedly torturing and starving her domestic help, has turned heads for the appalling details that the victim has shared since the case came to light. The political leader, however, has cried foul and called the charges against her “false and politically motivated”.
Patra, believed to be in her mid-60s, had kept the victim namely Sunita captive for eight years. Videos showing a scrawny Sunita, lying on a bed, and sharing details of her abuse before a magistrate has sparked massive uproar. The victim said Patra locked her in a room for days without food or water, assaulted her daily and burned her body with hot utensils such as a pan. Sunita also alleged the suspended BJP leader broke her teeth, and made her lick urine off the floor.
Here are some details about Seema Patra:
- She was a member of the national executive of the BJP's Mahila Marcha (women's win).
- Her husband is a former IAS officer, and they live in Ranchi's Ashok Nagar area with their two children - a daughter and a son.
- Patra's son, Sunita stated, would often come to the rescue of the victim during the abuse sessions. Furthermore, it was Patra's son who ultimately tipped off the district administration by alerting his friend, a Jharkhand government employee, about the torture of Sunita. The friend subsequently called police.
- Patra was the Jharkhand convenor of the BJP-led Centre's ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign.
- The leader was suspended by the BJP on Monday soon after the news of her assaulting her domestic help surfaced.
