Congress Member of Parliament Rakesh Rathore was arrested by the Sitapur police on Thursday in a rape case.
The Congress leader was taken in custody in the middle of a press conference and was taken by the police under heavy police security to the court after he surrendered.
A woman had filed a complaint against Rathore, accusing him of raping her on January 15. In her complaint, the woman alleged that the Congress MP raped her multiple times in a span of four years, promising to push her political career and marry her. The woman also submitted to the police all her call details and call recordings with the MP.
The police arrested Rathore a day after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court in the matter and asked him to surrender.
Speaking to media persons in Sitapur, Rathore said, “The High Court granted me a two-week time to appear before the lower court and follow the legal procedure. So, I am surrendering before the police in this connection… I am confident that I will get justice in the court of people and the court of law… The matter is sub judice, so it will not be correct to speak on it.â€
Before the High Court, the MP-MLA court in Sitapur had also rejected Rathore’s anticipatory bail plea on January 23.
The husband of the woman had also filed a separate complaint accusing Rathore and his son of putting pressure on the family members to settle the case.
Rathore had contested Uttar Pradesh assembly elections as an independent and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate before joining Congress. He has also been associated with Uttar Pradesh’s former chief minister Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party.
It may be mentioned that on Wednesday, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court had rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Rakesh Rathore. During the hearing, Rakesh Rathore’s lawyer told the court that the plaintiff, the victim, had filed a sexual assault case after four years, implying that the petitioner, which is the Congress MP, was falsely implicated in the rape case.
The lawyer appearing on behalf of the plaintiff told the court that the petitioner (Rakesh Rathore) is a respected leader of society and the delay took place on the part of the plaintiff (the victim) in filing the case out of the petitioner’s fear. The petitioner’s lawyer sought time from the court for the MP’s surrender.
The court asked the MP to surrender in the sessions court within two weeks and also said his bail plea should be disposed of as soon as possible without any delay.
On January 17, a case was registered against Congress’ Sitapur MP Rakesh Rathore after a complaint from a woman, who accused him of sexually exploiting her for the past four years by promising to marry her.
