Raj Ballabh Yadav (right) was suspended by Lalu Yadav's party after he was accused of rape
Highlights
- Supreme Court to hear plea against Raj Ballabh Yadav's bail tomorrow
- Opposition has attacked Bihar government for bail to the lawmaker
- Earlier, Mohd Shahabuddin, accused of murder, was released on bail
Bihar Lawmaker Raj Ballabh Yadav, accused of raping a 15-year-old schoolgirl, met Lalu Yadav, chief of the ruling RJD in Patna today. Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear the Bihar government's petition against the bail granted to him by the Patna High Court.
The lawmaker, suspended by the RJD earlier this year, was given bail by the state's High Court last week and walked out of prison on Saturday.
The terrified minor who he allegedly raped sent out a WhatsApp message to journalists
hoping to reach Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying, "He (Yadav) is out of jail... I am scared and afraid for my family. What will happen to them? I am already dead after what happened to me. I have nothing more to lose."
Main opposition party the BJP has demanded to know how a man arrested on charges of raping a child was granted bail. "Rajballabh Yadav's bail order shows that the state government did not protest the bail at all. The government thought public memory is short and let Yadav come out on bail," top Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi has alleged.
The BJP alleges that politicians linked to Lalu Yadav have been getting bail with ease ever since his party began ruling the state in partnership with Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United, after their coalition swept the assembly elections last year.
Raj Ballabh Yadav was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and his bail petitions were repeatedly rejected by a lower court, until he moved the High Court, which gave him bail after six months in prison.
Last month, gangster turned politician Mohammad Shahbuddin had walked out of prison on bail striking terror among the people who are pursuing cases of murder and other grave charges against him. Assailed by the opposition, the Nitish Kumar Kumar government had challenged Shahabuddin's bail too in Supreme Court, which ordered him back in jail.