Lucknow: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ramdular Gond was on Friday sentenced to 25 years in jail by an UP court in Sonbhadra district in the 2014 rape case of a 15-year-old girl.
Special Judge (MP/MLA court) Ahsanullah Khan pronounced the judgment guilty under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (causing disappearance of evidence and giving false information) of IPC and provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
First-time MLA Gond, who won from Duddhi constituency in Sonbhadra beating his Samajwadi Party rival, now faces the prospect of losing his membership from UP Assembly.
Gond, who was out on bail, was taken into custody soon after his conviction on Wednesday.
On Friday, he was brought to the court amid tight security.
“The court sentenced him to 25 years imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 10.5 lakh. The court directed to give penalty amount to the complainant,” said Special Public Prosecutor (Sonbhadra) Satya Prakash Tripathi.
The incident dates back to November 4, 2014, when Gond, according to the prosecution, tried to sexually assault the young teenager when she had gone to a field to answer nature’s call.
She later revealed her ordeal to family members. She also told her family that Gond had raped her several times over a period of one year by threatening her, the complainant’s lawyer Vikas Shakya said.
The prosecution claimed during the trial that the girl was born in 1998, while Gond submitted that her school documents stated 1994 as her year of birth.
