Politician arrested for abusing minor

Second such incident in Bihar state in the past few weeks

Asenior politician has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a sixyear-old schoolgirl in Bihar, the second such incident in the state past few weeks.

The arrested leader, Mahendra Sao, happens to be the Sheikhpura district president of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), the recently-formed political party headed by Dalit politician and Bihar’s former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.

HAM is an ally of the BJPled National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Police said the girl, a resident of Satbigahi locality in the Sheikhpura district, had left for coaching on Saturday morning when the politician allegedly lured and locked her up inside his house.

According to the victim’s family members, she was sexually assaulted the whole night.

The entire story came to light when the victim somehow managed to escape from his clutches and narrated her harrowing tale to the family members.

Angry villagers found the politician, dragged him to the street and then gave him a severe thrashing before handing him over to the police.

“We have arrested the accused and the entire matter is being investigated,” the local district superintendent of police Rajendra Kumar Bheel said.

In February this year, police arrested a ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) lawmaker, Raj Ballabh Yadav, for allegedly raping a teenaged girl.