By B S Reporter
Former BJP MLA from Makrana 86 years old Bhanwar Lal Rajpurohit has been sentenced 10-year imprisonment and a penalty of Rs one lakh in a 20 year old rape case. A local court has sent him to jail for raping a 22 year old woman in a 20-year old case. Rajpurohit was then 66 years old.
Rajpurohit has taken retirement from politics after being elected once as MLA and four times head of Markrana panchayat samiti.
The Case
The incident dates back to May 1, 2002 when a 22-year old woman of Manana village registered a rape case against Rajpurohit. As per her complaint, Rajpurohit called her inside his room when the woman went to a well at Rajpurohit's house. Rajpurohit persuaded the women to his room on behest of making her talk to her husband who then lived in Mumbai. After raping her, Rajpurohit tried to give away Rs 500 to the woman and asked her to keep silent. But the woman refused and she along with her father registered the case against the former MLA.
The then case incharge Tejpal Singh produced Final Report ( FR) before the local court dismissing the case to be fabricated.
Meanwhile the woman allegedly got pregnant due to that physical relation with the former MLA and had to terminate her pregnancy.
The court, however, did not get satisfied with the police investigation and ordered a fresh enquiry which lasted 20 years.
Why Police filed FR at first instance
People following the case said that Rajpurohit used all his political influence and money to turn the case in his favour. The victim hailed from a poor family with little financial support. During the incident, Rajpurohit was not holding any political post. But he w as a four-time Pradhan of the panchayat samiti. And after one and half year of the case, he contested as BJP candidate and won the assembly election. The case was later prolonged due to political interference.
The BuckStopper, run by a group of seasoned journalists, holds the powerful accountable. The buck stops with them, as they cannot shrug off their official responsibilities.
