Rape accused jailed MLA's wife stages sit-in for his release

LUCKNOW: Asha Devi, wife of rape accused BSP MLA Purushottam Naresh Dwivedi, sat on dharna here on Monday, demanding immediate release of her `innocent' husband. Highlight of the dharna, however, was a sudden appearance of Rajju, self-proclaimed husband of the victim Neelu (name changed).
Although Neelu has denied that she has anything to do with Rajju, he tried desperately to explain his ties with the girl.He also vouched for the accused MLA's innocence. The youth, who appeared before the media for the first time, also said that the CB-CID probe in the case was fake and `rape never took place'.
The Dharna was a pretty well and pre-planned affair with the supporters of MLA carrying coloured placard. Some of those present at the dharna sthal also identified themselves as distant relatives of the victim. Some others, claiming to be neighbours of the victim's grandparents residing in Madhya Pradesh, too, said that the MLA was innocent.
In Banda, police on Monday lodged a case against unidentified mob for attacking journalists covering the case during a court hearing last week.The journalists allege that the incident was a pre-planned one and executed by Tripathi's goons.
Initially, senior police officials were reluctant to lodge a report, saying that first an inquiry will be conducted into the allegations of assault. On Monday, however, they relented after the journalists threatened that they might resort to protest against police inaction.
The rape victim has also expressed fear for life, alleging that the local police was hand-in-glove with the jailed MLA, as there was not a single policeman present within the court compound when the attack took place. This was surprising, as earlier, whenever any rape accused or victim appeared in the court, the entire area was sealed much in advance.