UP BJP MLA Ramdular found guilty of rape of 15-year-old girl

The local court in Sonbhadra will pronounce the quantum of sentence in the case on Friday.

Eight prosecution and three defence witnesses were examined by the court. (Representational image)

A court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district on Tuesday held BJP MLA Ramdular guilty of raping a 15-year-old girl in a 2014 case. Ramdular, who won the 2022 election from the Duddhi constituency, was out on bail in the case.

“After the court held MLA Ramdular guilty, he was immediately taken into custody,” said Special Public Prosecutor Satya Prakash Tripathi.

The girl’s counsel, Vikas Shakya, said the MLA was found guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (rape) and 506 (causing disappearance of evidence and giving false information) and POCSO Act. The court has fixed December 15 for the pronouncement of the quantum of sentence in the case, Shakya said, adding that eight prosecution and three defence witnesses were examined by the court.

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According to the prosecution, Ramdular caught the girl and tried to sexually assault her when had gone to a nearby field to answer nature’s call in the evening on November 4, 2014.

On returning home, the girl informed her elder brother, a farmer, about her ordeal. “The victim also told her brother that Ramdular had raped her several times in the past one year by threatening her,” Shakya said.

At the time of the incident, Ramdular’s wife was the village pradhan.

During the trial, the prosecution claimed that girl was born in 1998, while the MLA produced school documents claiming she was born in 1994, said Tripathi.

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“When her statement was recorded in court during the trial, the girl was married,” said Vikas, adding that she is staying with her family now.

Ramdular defeated his closest rival, Vijay Singh of the Samajwadi Party, by 6,723 votes in the Assembly elections.

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