Kumar Rajiv Nayan
Ara : Additional District and Sessions Judge VI cum Special Court, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO), acquitted four of the five accused from the charges of rape of a minor girl after all the witnesses turned hostile. The court acquitted Amresh Kumar, engineer in MNREGA, Anita Devi, and her associates : Sanjeet Kumar and Sanjay Kumar. Arun Yadav, former RJD MLA from Sandesh Assembly Constituency in Bhojpur District in South Bihar is still absconding.
Advocate for the accused Vishnudhar Pandey said that Anita Devi along with her associates Sanjeet Kumar and Sanjay Kumar allegedly ran sex racket at Patna and she had reportedly decoyed a minor girl of Ara and dragged her into sex racket but she somehow escaped and reached Ara on July 18, 2019. Her brother lodged a named FIR against Anita Devi and Sanjeet Kumar alias Chhotu with Ara Town police station (PS) on July 19, 2021.
The victim recorded her first statement under section 164 of CrPC and accused Amresh Kumar, engineer in MNREGA, and Sanjay Kumar alias Jija while she recorded her statement under 164CrPC second time and accused the RJD MLA Arun Yadav, Pandey said. Even police got her statement registered under section 161 of CrPC. After that, police swung into action and arrested Anita Devi, Sanjeet Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, and Amresh Kumar and sent them to jail but police have failed to arrest Arun Yadav so far despite several attempts and property attachment. But, even the complainant, her brother and sister said that such incident never happened. The doctor said that she did not find any external or internal injuries, he added.
Vishnudhar Pandey said that after all the witnesses declined that any such incident occurred, the court acquitted all the four arrested accused in the rape case in absence of evidence. He stated that Arun Yadav is still absconding and trial would be initiated against him after he surrenders before the court.