On the 19th of February, the Uttar Pradesh (U.P.,) police registered a case against the nephew of Ravindra Nath Tripathi, a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP.)
A woman, about forty years old, registered a complaint against Sandeep Tiwari, Ravindra Nath Tripathi’s nephew, acusing him of rape and sexual assault, after promising to marry her. Besides Sandeep Tiwari, the woman mentioned the name of the BJP MLA of Bhadohi, Ravindra Nath Tripathi and other members of his family to also be involved .
Ram Badan Singh, the Superintendent of Police (SP) said, “The complainant had said that the MLA’s nephew Sandeep Tiwari had established sexual relations after the promise of marriage. She later levelled similar charges against the MLA and other people of the family. We had received a complaint, and on the basis of the complaint, we have registered a case against all those who have been named. A team has been constituted to investigate the case.”
The other members alleged to have sexually assaulted the woman are Chandrabhushan Tripathi, Deepak Tiwari, Nitish Tiwari and Prakash Tiwari.
According to the complaint, the victim met Sandeep Tiwari on a chance encounter on a train. Soon after that, Sandeep Tiwari sexually exploited her and raped her for 6 long years. The woman added, during the 2017 U.P., Assembly elections, Sandeep Tiwari confined her to a hotel for 30 days, where the others, including the MLA, allegedly raped her.
However, the MLA and his nephew, Sandeep Tiwari, denied all these allegations and claimed this allegation was a political conspiracy against them. Ravindra Nath Tripathi said, “I and my family are ready to be hanged if any of the allegations prove to be true after probe (sic.)”
The Uttar Pradesh police registered a case against all the 6 members under the relevant section of the Indian Penal Code (IPC.) The investigation is underway.
