Rebel JD(U) leader's wife alleges domestic abuse

Patna, June 15: A rebel Janata Dal-United (JD-U) legislator Ravinder Rai has been accused of domestic violence including mental torture for dowry by his wife Babita Yadav, police said on Monday.

Babita Yadav, 28, who is from Jind in Haryana and married Ravinder Rai in 2008, on Monday filed an F.I.R against her husband, saying she was subjected to regular physical and mental torture.

"Rai was beating me and threatening me to demand more dowry from my parents," said the mother of two daughters.

She said when she approached Hawai Adda police station here to lodge a case against Rai, police officials instead asked her to go back home and resolve the issue.

"Rai attacked me with an iron rod when I said no to his demand to approach my father for more money," she said.

Patna senior superintendent of police Jitendra Rana said that police would investigate the matter.

Rai, however, denied having assaulted her, saying that her allegations were baseless and far from the truth. "It appears to be a conspiracy against me to defame me ahead of upcoming state assembly polls".

Rai is close to former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. He is reportedly keen to contest the polls as a nominee of Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha, which is in talks to have an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance to take on the JD-U, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress.

Last April, the Patna High Court upheld the decision of the Bihar assembly speaker to terminate the membership of four rebel JD-U legislators including Rai.

Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary had terminated the membership of the four rebel JD-U legislators under the anti-defection law after the ruling party sought action against them for allegedly cross-voting in a Rajya Sabha bypoll last year.

IANS