10-year jail for ex-BSP MLA for raping maid

Former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator Purushottam Naresh Dwivedi was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a special CBI court on Friday for raping his maid servant.

Suresh Neta alias Raghuvansh Mani Dwivedi, Rajendra Shukla, Ram Naresh and Virendra Kumar Shukla also have been convicted in the case.

Initially, the case was probed by the CID. After huge public outcry, CBI took over the probe and charge-sheeted Dwivedi for rape and molestation and beating up charges against the others.

Though, no charge-sheet was filed against Suresh neta and Rajendra Shukla but the court found them prima facie guilty and sentenced them too.

In December 2010, Dwivedi's son had filed a report in Attara police station that the domestic help had decamped from their house with Rs.5,000 in cash, mobile phone and some clothes.

The girl was arrested the same day and the police claimed to have recovered stolen items from her possession. She was sent to jail.

However, she testified before a magistrate that she was raped by Dwivedi and framed in the matter. With the opposition taking up the issue in a big way, the then chief minister Mayawati was forced to recommend a CBI probe.

CBI established that the MLA had raped the victim twice and when he tried to outrage her modesty the third time, she ran away from the house, only to be framed in a theft case.