Maid murder case: BSP MP moves court to attend Parliment session

Dhananjay,in his plea,has said that he is a Member of Parliament (MP) from Jaunpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh and wanted to attend the Winter Session of Parliament.

The session is scheduled to conclude on December 20.

Dhananjay and his wife Jagriti,a dental surgeon at R M L Hospital,are currently lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody.

They were arrested on November 5 in connection with the death of their 35-year-old maid Rakhi Bhadra,a resident of West Bengal.

The MP,who already faces charges of murder and offences under the UP Gangsters Act,was arrested for allegedly destroying evidence,not informing police about the maid’s death immediately and employing a juvenile as domestic help.

Jagriti was arrested under sections 302 (murder),307 (attempt to murder),344 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice Act.

Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha had earlier dismissed Dhananjay’s bail plea on November 20,saying that allegations against him were “very serious” and he did not deserve any leniency due his previous conduct.

Dhananjay had later moved a bail plea before a session court but his application was dismissed by ASJ Dharmesh Sharma who observed that he had “actively participated” in atrocities which aggravated the miseries of his domestic helps.

During the day,another Delhi court extended the judicial custody of Dhananjay till December 20 in a rape case lodged against him by a woman.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kiran Bansal extended the remand after the MP was produced before her through video conferencing.

The police had earlier informed the court that due to security reasons,Dhananjay be allowed to be produced through video conferencing.

The FIR was lodged against Dhananjay for allegedly repeatedly raping and criminally intimidating a 42-year-old woman,a railway employee,between 2005-09.

On November 22,the Delhi Police had informed the court that it had added penal provision of section 377 (unnatural offence) of IPC against Dhananjay.

The police had arrested Dhananjay in the rape case on November 21 when he was produced in the court in pursuance to production warrant issued against him.

The police had said that an FIR of rape was lodged against Dhananjay after the woman recently approached it alleging that she was sexually exploited by the MP between 2005-2009.

She was continuously raped by Singh at gunpoint and was threatened with dire consequences if she reported the matter,the police had said. The rape case was lodged against the MP on November 13 at Pandav Nagar police station in east Delhi.