Lucknow: Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday said that former minister and close confidante Gayatri Prajapati was innocent and was ‘being treated like a terrorist’.
The comments came after the two met in Lucknow district jail where Prajapati is lodged in rape case being tried under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses) Act.
Sources said the meeting lasted for about one and a half hours.
“Gayatri Prajapati is being treated like a terrorist in jail, an innocent person like him has been put in jail because of bogus lawsuits. Today, many journalists are also writing wrong about him,” Mulayam said.
Mulayam even questioned the allegation of rape. “How can the woman get raped, when she didn’t even go to Prajapati’s house? The location of the accused is also not there at the said time. I will meet DGP and complain to him in this matter,” he said.
“In this case, the SSP and district administration are doing things as per their will. The girl has even refused to recognise Prajapati,” he added.
Mulayam also spoke in favour of the students who were jailed for showing black flags to CM Yogi Adityanath. He said that there is a right in the democracy to raise slogans and displaying flags. “Today the BJP government is working to suppress the sentiment of change. Girl students in jail are being treated unfairly, and they should complain to the Prime Minister and the President,” he said.
The meeting between Mulayam and Prajapati was originally scheduled on Monday, but permission was denied by the jail administration as the SP patriarch reached the jail after the prescribed meeting time with inmates was over.
Prajapati was sacked by Akhilesh Yadav but was reappointed as minister after the intervention of Mulayam. When the Yadav clan was witnessing trouble in the family for the hold of the party, Prajapati stood firm on Mulayam’s side and decided to go against Akhilesh.
Only after intervention of the Supreme Court on February 18, 2017, an FIR was registered in the case. The victim had alleged that in the name of giving a mining lease, Prajapati and his men gang-raped her many times, but when they all tried to molest her minor daughter she decided to lodge the FIR.
After investigation, the police has filed a 824-page chargesheet, in which 24 peoplewere named as witnesses.
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