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BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh convicted of raping a minor in 2014, sentenced to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment
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BJP MLA Ramdular Gond from Duddhi assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh has been convicted of raping a minor in 2014, sentenced to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment on Friday. He has also been fined Rs 10 lakh. While the sentencing of punishment happened on Friday, he was convicted of the crime on December 12 after almost a decade-long hearing. The Sonbhadra MP/MLA court of additional district judge found him guilty of raping a 15-year-old girl in 2014, under Sections 376 and 506 of IPC and several other sections of the POCSO ACT. The verdict came after the court had heard eight prosecution and three defense witnesses.
Background of the Case
On November 4, 2014, a 15-year-old girl had gone to a field to attend nature’s call where Ramdular Gond had sexually assaulted her. The same evening, after the minor returned home, she narrated the ordeal to her elder brother, adding that she was wronged and violated by Gond for several months preceding that incident. A police complaint was lodged at a police station in Sonbhadra district under IPC sections 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and relevant provisions of the POCSO Act.
At that time, Ramdular Gond was not an MLA. He was the village headman and the husband of the village Pradhan. He was considered to hold clout in the village. After the case was registered, Police arrested him in 2014 and sent him to jail. After spending about three months in jail, he managed to secure bail from the court. The police had eventually filed the charge sheet and the trial was initially at the POCSO court.
In 2022 BJP gave him a ticket and he fought elections against Vijay Singh Gond from the Samajwadi party. Vijay was a nine-time MLA and a former minister. He was also known as the mentor of Ramdular, but as the rape case was registered against him, he had a fallout with Vijay Singh Gond. In the 2022 elections, Ramdular defeated Vijay by 6297 votes.
The survivor is now 25 years old and married. The case trial was eventually shifted from the POCSO court to the MP/MLA court. The trial cumulatively lasted for over 9 years.
Ramdular, 51, is set to lose his assembly seat, as per the Supreme Court 2013 order making it clear that any MP or MLA convicted of a crime and sentenced to a punishment of a minimum 2 years of imprisonment would lose the membership of the house. In 2022 when BJP gave him a ticket, the case was already on and Ramdular Gond was out on bail.
