FIR lodged against UP minister in gangrape case

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh police on Saturday lodged an FIR against Gayatri Prajapati, a minister in the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government in the state, following an order from the Supreme Court in an alleged gangrape case.

A 35-year-old woman had filed a gangrape and sexual harassment case against Prajapathi, the Transport Minister of Uttar Pradesh, who is contesting the Assembly polls from Amethi constituency.

A Bench of Supreme Court Justices A.K. Sikri and R.K. Agrawal had asked the state to file a status report in eight weeks. “You should first register FIR. Just because he is an influential person you are not registering FIR. You register FIR, investigate and if there is nothing file a closure report. But you can’t say you will not register FIR,” the Bench told the UP counsel.

The Bench passed the order on a petition filed by the woman, who alleged that the minister promised her a post in the SP party and raped her when she met him three years ago.

She also alleged that Prajapati took some obscene photos of her and threatened to make them public and repeatedly raped her. She also alleged that the minister molested her teenaged daughter but police refused to register FIR.