The UP Police subsequently booked Rai and others, including retired IPS Amitabh Thakur, for abetment of suicide after the victim and her friends succumbed to their burns. Varanasi police on Saturday invoked the state’s Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act against jailed BSP MP Atul Rai, an accused in the alleged rape of a 24-year-old woman who died after setting herself on fire with her friend before the Supreme Court.
An MP from Ghosi, Rai is lodged in jail since June, 2019. Before setting herself on fire on August 6, the victim shot a Facebook Live video alleging harassment by the police and the aides of the accused.
The UP Police subsequently booked Rai and others, including retired IPS Amitabh Thakur, for abetment of suicide after the victim and her friends succumbed to their burns. In the video, they had further alleged that certain police officers of UP Police were supporting the jailed BSP MP and harassing them.
The victim had accused the MP of raping her at his Varanasi residence 2018. Varanasi Police Commissioner A Satish Ganesh stated in a note that the case against Atul Rai under Gangsters Act was lodged at Lanka police station. He added that the Act has also been invoked against one Sujeet Belwa, an associate of the MP.
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