Bihar cooperative department minister and senior Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Surendra Yadav has been booked by the police for allegedly passing objectionable remarks against women, a senior police officer said.
Following the directive by a Gaya court, the Fatehpur police station registered an FIR (first information report) against Yadav Wednesday evening under sections 500 (punishment for defamation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code. The police have also launched an investigation.
A Janata Dal (United) activist, Karishma Kumari, who is also a member of the Gaya district board, had filed a court case against Yadav, alleging that the minister, who is an MLA from Belaganj, had used derogatory remarks against women during a function organised in the premises of Gurpa upgraded middle school on May 4, 2023.
Karishma, who claims to be the state secretary of the JD(U) women’s cell, said she had submitted a formal complaint petition with a corroborating video at the Fatehpur police station on June 20, but the police registered only a station diary.
“Thereafter, I moved a petition before the court. Following the court’s directive, the Fatehpur police registered an FIR against the minister on Wednesday,” she said.
Gaya SSP Ashish Bharti confirmed that a police case has been registered against Yadav and said police will now record Karishma Kumari’s statement and seek evidence from her.
Yadav, a seven-time MLA from Gaya and a former MP from neighbouring Jehanabad, was charge-sheeted by a POCSO court in June 2022 for revealing the identity of a minor who was allegedly gang-raped.
