Rape Accused UP Minister Gayatri Prajapati Walks Free Despite SC Order To Arrest Him, And UP Police Are Doing Nothing

Gayatri Prajapati, the gang rape accused and the cabinet minister in Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh had been campaigning and was also seen casting his vote on February 27 in Amethi.

Prajapati is visible to everybody except for the UP Police which despite Supreme Court¡¯s February 17 order for his arrest hasn¡¯t been able to trace him. It¡¯s quite evident that why Prajapati hasn¡¯t been arrested till date, despite being seen campaigning in Amethi in presence of the CM Akhilesh Yadav.

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The 49-year-old MLA from Amethi, the traditional seat of Gandhis, Prajapati is accused of the gang rape of a woman and sexually assaulting her minor daughter. Not many know that Prajapati is considered to be the close to none other than SP patriarch, Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Here is all you need to Gayatri Prajapati and what makes him so powerful that amid the elections, SP has put its reputation at stake in order to save him.

First time MLA and how he became Mulayam¡¯s blue eyed boy

Gayatri Prajapati came to the fore after he defeated Ameeta Singh in Amethi. Since Prajapati was a first time MLA and that too from Amethi, the political seats of Gandhi, his stature suddenly saw a rise in SP ranks. Though Prajapati came from a poor Kumhar family, soon his fortune rose quickly and in February 2013, Prajapati was inducted in the UP cabinet by CM Akhilesh Yadav as Minister of State for Irrigation.

PTI

In July 2013, Prajapati was given an independent charge of mining. But he shot to fame in January 2014 when he was promoted to cabinet minister due to his closeness with SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Mulayam allegedly took on Amitabh Thakur for Prajapati

In July 2015, an IG-rank IPS officer named Amitabh Thakur sought the filing of a FIR against Mulayam, alleging that he had been threatened by the then SP chief over the phone. The IPS officer claimed that since his wife Nutan Thakur has been running a campaign against Prajapati, it has invited Mulayam¡¯s wrath on him.

Corruption charges and inquiries that reached nowhere

Three complaints of amassing wealth disproportionate his known sources of income were filled against Prajapati in 2015 with state Lokayukta. He was also accused of sheltering the illegal mining in the state.

However, the inquiries were closed for lack of evidence.

Remember SP family fall out? Prajapati was one of the reasons

NBT

In September 2016, CM Akhilesh Yadav sacked Prajapati post-Allahabad High Court asked the CBI on whether the illegal mining was being carried out with the collusion of the state authorities. Soon, the sacking was Prajapati resulted in the fall-out of Yadav family with both Mulayam and his brother Shivpal supporting Prajapati and CM Akhilesh Yadav against him.

As a result, he was re-inducted as the cabinet minister.

The alleged rape

A woman from Bundelkhand has accused Prajapati and his associates Ashok Tiwari, Pintu Singh, Vikas Verma, Ashish Shukla, Rupesh and Chandrapal of gang raping her at his at his official residence at 5, Gautampalli in Lucknow in 2014. She has also accused Prajapati and two of his associates of harassing her minor daughter as well.

In her complaint to police, the woman said Ashok Tiwari had asked her to come to Prajapati¡¯s residence where the minister had asked her to work in sand mining. She came at Prajapati¡¯s residence in pursuit of one sand mining block in Hamirpur. In her complaint, she alleged that her tea was laced with sedatives and she was gang-raped after she fell unconscious.

She also alleged that the minister and his associates took pictures of her being raped and they used those picture to blackmail her later which resulted in her sexual assaults for months. The complainant has also alleged that Prajapati asked her to bring her 17-year-old daughter to his residence where they attempted rape on her.

The Supreme Court

The victim alleged that she was first assaulted in October 2014 and the assault continued until July 2016 as she was constantly been blackmailed by Prajapati and his associates of making her pictures public.

But when the minister allegedly laid his hand on the victim¡¯s minor daughter, she broke her silence. The woman claimed that she lodged a complaint in the office of UP, DGP in October 2016, but no action was taken.

AFP

She then moved to the apex court, asking that a FIR to be registered on her complaint. On February 17, 2017, the apex court ordered UP Police to lodge a FIR against Prajapati.

On 18th February, police lodged a FIR against Prajapati, but ever since the police haven't been able to arrest him despite him being campaigning in the election in Amethi. Prajapati was last seen on February 27, when he cast his vote in Amethi during the fifth phase of voting.