Former IAS BB Mohanty, who was facing trial in a local metropolitan POSCO court, for raping a minor, has been acquitted after 10 years.
BB Mohanty is a 1977-batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre and is among few officer who had retired in 2015 while on run.
The court, in its decision, said that the victim was not minor at the time of incident. She was well aware of her well being. The girl could have been registered her dissent soon after the incident but she preferred not to record it.
“This shows that the victim would have entered into relationship willingly with BB Mohanty. In such circumstances, no case is found against BB Mohanty,” the court said in the order.
What is the case of BB Mohanty?
The case dates back to January 25, 2014 when a complaint was filed accusing Mohanty of raping a 23-year-old MBA student.
Soon after the case was filed Mohanty fled from Jaipur and evaded his arrest till November 2017 when surrendered Jaipur's Mahesh Nagar police station. He was out on bail from High Court since he had surrendered.
At the time of the incident, Mohanty was additional chief secretary rank officer and was posted as chairman of the Rajasthan Civil Services Appellate Tribunal.
The girl had accused Mohanty of sexually exploiting her several times since February 2013.
The girl had been preparing for IAS examinations in Jaipur. She had claimed that Mohanty had promised to help her pass the IAS examinations. The complainant alleged that the accused used to take her to a flat and rape her.
After the complaint, Mohanty was suspended from the post.
Soon after the complaint was filed, he went missing. As per the complainant, Mohanty introduced himself as a senior IAS officer and had promised her to help her clear the IAS examination.
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.
