Lucknow, Nov 10 (IANS) A special court in Lucknow on Wednesday pronounced former UP minister Gayatri Prajapati guilty in a gang rape case.
Two of his associates, Ashok Tiwari and Ashish Shukla, have also been convicted.
Judge Pawan Kumar Rai of a special MP/MLA court in Lucknow held Prajapati guilty of gang rape charges in the case under Sections 482/378/407 of the Indian Penal Code.
The quantum of punishment will be announced on Friday.
In this case, seven people, including Prajapati, were charged.
A woman from Chitrakoot had accused former Samajwadi Party minister and his friends of gang rape. The woman also alleged that the accused forcibly had physical intercourse with her minor daughter.
On the directions of the Supreme Court, an FIR was lodged against Prajapati and six other accused on February 18, 2017. All of them were charged with gang rape, threat to life, and violating the POCSO Act.
Apart from Prajapati, Vikas Verma, Amarendra Singh, Chandrapal, Rupeshwar, Shukla, and Tiwari were also charged in this case.
Prajapati and the other accused were arrested and imprisoned after the FIR was filed.
Reacting to reports of Pakistan's decision to expel the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad and to review 'bilateral agreements' with New Delhi, the Chief Minister described Islamabad's reaction as knee-jerk and uncalled for.
Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar were called "Delhi-4" or "D4" by some in BJP as they were mostly based in the national capital.
Right from her childhood, she was fond of taking part in debates and contests in school, those who lived close to the family home in Cantonment's BC Bazaar area recalled.
Nirmohi Akhara, one of the leading parties in the case, has been seeking management and proprietary rights over the disputed site on various grounds including that it was under its possession since time immemorial and it has the status of ''shebaitship'' of the deity.
A tearful Geeta, who has speech and hearing impairment, through sign language, said Ms Swaraj used to be concerned about her well-being "like a mother".
