NEW DELHI: Congress MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur, Rakesh Rathore was arrested on Thursday in connection with a rape case. Rathore was addressing a press conference when Kotwali Nagar police reached his residence to take him into custody.
This comes a day after Rathore’s petition for anticipatory bail was rejected by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court.
Later, talking to news agency ANI, Rathore said,” The high court granted me 2-week time to appear before lower court and follow the legal procedure. So, I am surrendering before the police in this connection. I am confident that I will get justice in the court of people and court of law.”
“The matter is subjudice before the court, so it will not be correct to speak on it,” he added.
The bench had, however, granted him liberty of two weeks to surrender before the trial court in order to avail regular bail.
UP police registered a case against Rathore on January 17, following a complaint from a woman, who accused him of sexually exploiting her for the past four years promising to marry her.
The woman has also provided call details and call recordings to the police.
On January 22, the survivor’s husband lodged a separate complaint against five individuals, alleging Rathore and his son were pressuring the family to settle the case.
He claimed the MP’s associates made objectionable comments about his wife on social media. Sitapur Police registered a case against five individuals under relevant sections of BNS Act, Section 67 of the IT Act for revealing her identity on social media platforms.