Congress leader in judicial custody over woman’s self-immolation
THE WOMAN SUFFERED NEARLY 90% BURN INJURIES IN THE ATTEMPT AND WAS UNDER TREATMENT AT DR SHYAMA PRASAD MUKHERJEE HOSPITAL WHERE SHE SUCCUMBED TO HER INJURIES LATE ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
Congress leader Alok Prasad, who is the son of former Rajasthan governor Sukhdev Prasad, was sent to judicial custody on Thursday after he was booked for hatching a criminal conspiracy and instigating a 35-year-old Maharajganj woman to attempt self-immolation near Vidhan Bhavan here on Tuesday morning, senior Lucknow police officials said.
The woman suffered nearly 90% burn injuries in the attempt and was under treatment at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee hospital where she succumbed to her injuries late on Wednesday night.
Deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Central, Somen Barma said the former governor’s son was arrested from his Gomtinagar residence on Wednesday night and sent to judicial custody after being produced before a court on Thursday afternoon.
He said Alok Prasad was the chairperson of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe cell of the UP Congress.
Alok Prasad is the second Congressman to be booked in a similar incident in the past three months.
The DCP said the initial FIR against Alok Prasad was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 306/511 for provoking the woman trying to commit self-immolation, which was later altered to 306 for abetment to suicide, as well as Section 120-B for criminal conspiracy.
A senior police official privy to the investigation said Alok Prasad was in touch with the woman for the past few days and he had provoked the woman to commit self-immolation to seek attention of the state government in her case.
He said the Maharajganj police had given information that Alok was in frequent touch with the woman and even his call records proved it.
The official said the woman was first married to one Akhilesh Kumar and got into a relationship with one Asif Raza after separation from her husband a few years ago. He said the woman lived with Asif for a few months and even changed her name. He said Asif’s family, however, did not approve of their relationship.
He said the police were still verifying whether the woman had married Asif or not, but she was troubled after her partner left for Saudi Arabia for a job a few months ago and was not in contact with her since then.
The official alleged Alok Prasad had also organised a protest outside the residence of the woman’s partner and the Maharajganj police procured the footage in connection with the charge that he was seen instigating the woman to set herself ablaze.
Earlier, on July 17, a 50-yearold woman and her 28-year-old daughter, both residents of Amethi district, had set themselves ablaze in front of gate number 3 of Vidhan Bhavan, alleging police excesses. While the 50-year-old woman had succumbed to her injuries at the civil hospital five days after the incident, her daughter had survived.
Congress leader Anup Patel and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) politician Qadeer Khan, as well as two relatives of the woman, were booked under IPC Sections 306 for abetment to suicide and 120-B for criminal conspiracy on July 18.