SC sends rape-accused RJD MLA back to jail

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked a Bihar RJD legislator accused of raping a schoolgirl to surrender for two weeks to enable the rape victim to record her statement before a trial court.

Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA from Nawada, Rajballav Yadav, was accused of raping the minor girl in February this year.

A bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice N.V. Ramana asked Yadav to surrender after senior counsel Dushyant Dave offered the bench that his client would go back to jail for two weeks to enable the alleged rape victim to record her statement.

The bench said that the accused should not make any effort to influence the minor victim or other prosecution witnesses.

The Court fixed November 23 as the next date of hearing.

The Bihar government had moved the apex court challenging the grant of bail to Rajballav Yadav by the Patna High Court in September.

The apex court had on October 18 put on hold the deposition of the girl till October 24 as Yadav had sought more time to file his reply to the plea for cancellation of his bail.

Yadav was accused of raping the girl at his residence in Bihar Sharif. He was suspended from the party after the incident surfaced.

However, he continues to be an RJD lawmaker in the state assembly. Yadav, who was denied anticipatory bail by a local court in Bihar Sharif in February, was absconding but later surrendered in court in March.

He was granted bail by the High Court on September 30. Yadav was named one of the five accused in the chargesheet filed in April. Besides Yadav, the others named were Sulekha Devi and others who were accused of supplying girls to the RJD lawmaker.

--IANS

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