Former Uttar Pradesh (UP) minister Gayatri Prajapati was on Wednesday, 10 November, convicted by a special court of raping a woman from the state's Chitrakoot district.
Prajapati was arrested in March 2017 on the charges of raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter.
Along with Prajapati, two others – Ashish Shukla and Ashok Tiwari – were found guilty under sections of gang rape and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Special Judge PK Rai, who presided over the case, also held the three guilty of trying to rape the woman’s minor daughter, adding that the prosecution was able to prove charges against the three beyond a reasonable doubt, The Wire reported.
Seventeen witnesses were produced by the prosecution in the case.
As per the complainant, the minister and his accomplices had been raping her since October 2014. But she decided to complain against them after they tried to molest and rape her minor daughter in July 2016, The Wire reported.
The court will announce the sentence for the convicts on 12 November.
Meanwhile, the other accused – Vikas Verma, Amarendra Singh alias Pintu, Chanderpal, Rupeshwar alias Rupesh – were acquitted due to paucity of evidence against them.
(With inputs from The Wire.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)