BJP legislator’s murder: Accused’s mother to seek CBI probe

PATNA - The mother of school teacher Rupam Pathak, who stabbed to death Bihar’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Raj Kishore Kesri for allegedly exploiting her sexually, Friday said she will file a writ petition in high court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case.

“I have decided to approach the Patna High Court for justice to my daughter. I am proud of her and will seek justice for her,” Kumud Mishra told IANS here Friday.

Mishra said she will file the writ petition in the high court Monday. “We have no faith in the state police’s investigation in the case because Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi has already given clean chit to Kesri and described Rupam as a blackmailer while other leaders of the ruling BJP have called my daughter mentally retarded,” she said.

Rupam had alleged Kesri and his close colleagues had raped her for three years.

Mishra said that her daughter did what an exploited woman would have done to teach her tormentor a lesson. “I urge all women not only in Bihar but across India, particularly those who have been exploited, to come forward to support Rupam Pathak and raise their voice against exploitation. It is high time all women fought against injustice and exploitation,” she said.

Mishra said that she has already submitted a petition at the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) and the State Women’s Commission seeking justice for her daughter.

She has also petitioned the National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women, as well as several other organisations working for democratic rights and justice.

Mishra, a resident of Brahmapur village in Naugachchia in Bhagalpur district, said she would demand an appointment with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to apprise him of the truth.

She said her daughter, who was a postgraduate in Hindi and also had a B.Ed degree, knocked the doors of many police officers but nobody helped her because of the political pressure. “Had justice been delivered to her, she would not have taken such action,” Mishra said.

She said Rupam was staying with her husband and two children in Manipur before she started a school in Purnea in 2006. Her husband still is a principal at a public school in Imphal.

Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), have demanded a judicial inquiry into the case.

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.

But the deputy chief minister has ruled out both the options, though some BJP leaders and legislators are also in favour of a CBI probe.