BJP MLA, his sons, nephews booked for gangrape in UP

Varanasi widow has filed charges of sexual exploitation by seven in the family, Tripathi blames another BJP MLA for conspiracy to malign his image

Months after former BJP leader and Unnao legislator Kuldeep Sanger was given life term for gangrape of a minor, another BJP MLA, Ravindranath Tripathi, landed in a controversy as he was booked in a gangrape case on Wednesday.

An FIR has been filed against Tripathi, who represents the carpet city Bhadohi in the State Assembly in the gangrape of a Varanasi widow. His three sons and three nephew have also been included in FIR.

The woman has accused

Tripathi and his three sons and three nephews of raping her.

“The woman, whose husband died in 2007, met MLA Ravindranath Tripathi’s nephew in 2014. She said that she was physically exploited by him for many years on the pretext of marriage,” Ram Badan Singh, Superintendent of Police, Bhadohi told mediapersons.

Tripathi’s nephew allegedly also forced the woman to abort two-month-old foetus and threatened to kill when she pressed for marriage.

“The woman further said that the MLA’s nephew got her lodged in a Bhadohi hotel for about a month during the 2017 UP Assembly elections where she was raped by the MLA and his family,” said Singh.

He added that investigation was launched to probe the case.

Tripathi has denied the charges. Rather, he blamed fellow legislator Vijay Kumar Mishra from Gyanpur in the Bhadohi district for the conspiracy to defame him.

Mishra, who belongs to Nishad Party but openly supports the BJP from Lok Sabha in local elections and seeks to switch to the ruling outfit for long, rejects the allegations and claims that he has nothing to do with entire controversy.

BJP spokesperson refuse to speak over the controversy.