A special court for MPs/MLAs in Varanasi on Saturday acquitted Member of Parliament Atul Rai in a three-year-old rape case. Mr. Rai, Lok Sabha member from the Ghosi parliamentary seat, belongs to the Bahujan Samaj Party. He will remain at Naini prison in Allahabad as other cases are still pending against him.
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The case against the Lok Sabha member had been registered on the basis of a complaint filed by a former student in the Lanka police station in Varanasi on May 1, 2019. Mr. Rai absconded after the case was registered and surrendered after winning the Lok Sabha polls. The Lok Sabha member has been lodged at Naini Central Jail in Allahabad since June 2019. Mr. Rai was granted special parole in January 2020 to take oath as a parliamentarian.
In November 2020, Mr. Rai’s brother filed a police complaint accusing the woman of committing forgery. Alleging threats and torture by police officials and close aides of the parliamentarian, the woman travelled to New Delhi and set fire to herself and a friend outside the Supreme Court in New Delhi on August 16, 2021. Both succumbed to burn injuries despite treatment. They had broadcast the self-immolation in a Facebook live video.
After the deaths, the Uttar Pradesh police invoked the Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act against Mr. Rai and booked him for abetment of suicide.
Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available at Sanjivini, Society for Mental Health; Phone: 011-40769002, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-7.30 p.m. More helpline numbers are available at this link.