BJP’s UP bypoll candidate in domestic violence case

Kaushlendra Singh Patel, the BJP candidate for the Phulpur Lok Sabha byelection, has landed in trouble even before he could start campaigning.

His first wife, Ritu Singh, has accused Mr Patel of marrying another woman without obtaining a divorce and also of domestic violence.

“He had been pressurising me for dowry. He would beat me regularly after I gave birth to our daughter. I have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him why he has given a ticket to a man who does not believe in ‘ Beti bachao, Beti padhao’ policy,” she told reporters.

Replying to a question, she said that when she tried to lodge a complaint for domestic violence against her husband, he manipulated matters and obtained a divorce without her consent.

Ritu Singh said that Kaushlendra Singh Patel had also refused to give her any money. “I have brought up my daughter with my father’s pension,” she said.

Her father, Vimal Nayan Singh, said that his daughter and Mr Patel had got married in 1999 and a daughter was born to them a year later.

“He started physically abusing Ritu after she gave birth to a girl and even tried to kill her in 2004 after which she left home. Earlier in March 2003, Ritu had lodged a case for dowry harassment at the Bhelupur police station,” he said.