A special designated court for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Banda had convicted and sentenced former MlA of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Purushottam Naresh Dwivedi, to ten years imprisonment in the Sheelu rape case. The court also imposed on him a fine of Rs one lakh half of which will be given to the victim as compensation. The court also sentenced two other co-accused Ram Naresh and Virendra Kumar Shukla to two-year imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 2000 on each and acquitted two others, Rajendra Shukla and Suresh Neta, for want of evidence.
Special judge(CBI) VK Srivastava passed this judgment on Friday afternoon. According to the prosecution, the case of December 10, 2010 related to Atarra police station of Banda district when the domestic help, then 17 years old Sheelu (name changed), was raped but was framed in a theft case by the accused when she tried to run away. After the matter was highlighted by the media, the then chief minister Mayawati had instituted CB-CID inquiry into the case and also suspended the MlA till the probe will be over. After investigations, CB-CID had filed a charge sheet against the accused on charges of rape but the case was subsequently handed over to CBI on the directives of the Supreme Court. Purushottam Naresh Dwivedi, is a prominent political leader of Bundelkhand region and was elected to State Assembly from Naraini seat on BSP ticket in 2007. He was suspended from the party by the BSP chief Mayawati in January 2011.
In Dec 2010, he was charged with the rape of a 17-year-old girl from a Scheduled Caste. An initial inquiry by the state CB CID found the charges to be prima facie true, and he was arrested on January 13, 2011. In November 2010, the victim named Sheelu of Majra Banantapurwa of Harnampur village in Banda District, was abducted and allegedly sold to one Rajju from a neighbouring village. The village pradhan (head) and a constable were responsible for the abduction. The girl’s father, Achhe lal, eventually recovered her and went to Purushottam Naresh, who is the local MlA, seeking redressal of their grievances.
It was decided that the girl would stay in Purushottam’s house, where she would have adequate protection. It appears that on December 10 and 11, Neelu was raped repeatedly by Purushottam and two of his bodyguards. Subsequently she managed to escape and lodged rape charges with the police. However, Purushottam levied theft charges against her and on Dec 15, the police arrested her. Her father Achchhe lal was threatened but he went underground and approached the Gulabi Gang, a group of woman vigilantes in Banda. This helped them to highlight the case through media after which the National Council of Women, as well as politicians from opposition parties, took up the matter and sought justice to the girl and her family. The case was investigated by the CB-CID and a medical report of the victim confirmed violent sexual assault, the CB-CID found the rape charges to be prima facie true.
Under pressure from colleagues in the BSP party, which claims to represent the backward castes, Chief Minister Mayawati suspended Naresh from the party on January 3, 2011. Purushottam was arrested on January 13 the same month. A few days later, after more than a month in jail, the girl was released on January 17, 2011. In August 2011, the Supreme Court of India, sent a notice to the state of Uttar Pradesh for arresting the girl in violation of the Juvenile Justice Act. In September 12, 2011, unhappy with the state’s handling of the case, the Supreme Court of India ordered the investigations to be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.