Rape accused RJD legislator surrenders in court

Patna, March 10: After the Patna High Court refused to hear his anticipatory bail plea, RJD legislator Raj Ballabh Yadav, accused of raping a schoolgirl, surrendered on Thursday in a court in Bihar, police said.

Yadav, who represents Nawada constituency in the Bihar assembly, turned up at the court in Biharsharief in Nalanda district, about 100 km from here, and surrendered, a police official said.

"After Yadav surrendered, the court sent him to judicial custody for 14 days," the official said.

Yadav is charged with raping a school-going minor girl in Biharsharief on February 6.

Yadav was absconding for many days after the victim filed a police complaint accusing him of raping her. While on the run, he was petitioning courts to try to get anticipatory bail.

Last week, a lower court rejected his anticipatory bail plea. Four of his accomplices have been arrested.

Earlier, the legislator's two houses, one each in Nawada and Patna, were attached in compliance with an order of the court.

Yadav's 13 bank accounts have been sealed. The police also said it has started the process of auctioning his plots at different places.

The authorities also suspended the licences of three firearms Yadav possessed.

According to the police complaint, a woman, Sulekha Devi, took the girl to an undisclosed location in Nalanda and forced her to have liquor, after which she was raped by a man, later identified as Yadav.

After she was raped, the girl said the woman gave her Rs.30,000.

IANS