The police have arrested All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) legislator, Gopinath Das for allegedly raping a minor domestic help.
Police said that Das, who represents the Boko legislative Assembly constituency in Assam, has been absconding from September 7. The minor girl, who used to work for the family of Das in his residence at Guwahati said that the MlA had raped her in his vehicle and confined her in their house for several days after the incident.
The police had earlier raided the residences of Das and his official quarter at Dispur area but failed to trace him. His mobile phone had also found untraceable for all these days.
“We have arrested him today from Hajo area, located about 30 kms from Dispur. He was brought to the Palasbari police station for interrogation and we are going to produce him before the court tomorrow,” said Kamrup SP, Indrani Baruah.
She said that police had already registered a case against Das under Section 343 of the IPC and Sections 4 and 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act.
It may be mentioned here that on Thursday the Gauhati High Court had rejected the petition for anticipatory bail filed by the advocate of Das on the ground that he annexed forged documents before the court along with the petition.
Das’s advocate prayed for an anticipatory bail in the case before the High court and annexed two statements signed by the victim girl’s parents saying that they slapped the charges against Das after being coaxed by politicians from Das’s opposite camp. As there were media reports that the documents were forged, the court asked the police to ascertain the authenticity of the documents, which found that at least four aides of Das kidnapped the victim girl’s parents and took their signatures in blank papers forcibly and submitted before the court after writing the statements.