Varanasi Court acquits BSP MP Atul Rai in 2019 rape case

A Varanasi court in Uttar Pradesh has acquitted Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Member of Parliament (MP) Atul Rai in a case of rape of a woman who had later died by suicide by immolating herself outside the Supreme Court.

The order was passed by Additional District and Session Judge Siyaram Chaurasia, The Indian Express reported.

While Rai was acquitted in rape case, he will continue to remain in jail due to the abetment of suicide case against him, the report said.

Rai is currently lodged in Naini Jail at Prayagraj, UP.

The charges against Rai and his co-accused were of abetment of the suicide of a rape victim and her friend, who had set themselves on fire outside the Supreme Court gates on August 16 last year, and died subsequently.

The 24-year-old victim woman had accused Rai of raping her at his Varanasi home in 2019.

Last month while refusing to entertain Rai's bail application, the Allahabad High Court had stated that an alarming number of criminals reach parliament and State Assembly and it is a wake up call for all.

"Parliament and Election Commission of India are required to take effective measures to wean away criminals from politics and break unholy nexus between criminal politicians and bureaucrats," the bench had directed.

No one can dispute that present day politics is caught in crime, identity, patronage, muscle and money network, the High Court had said while discussing that the nexus between crime and politics was a serious threat to democratic values and governance based on rule of law.

"Confirmed criminal history sheeters and even those who are behind bars are given tickets by different political parties and surprisingly some of them get elected as well," the High Court had observed.