'Nalanda rape attacker out on bail, I'm scared for my family'

Patna: A rape victim from Nalanda, Bihar, has said in a WhatsApp message on Tuesday that she and her family are living in fear following the release on bail of her attacker -- a Bihar legislator now suspended from the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal.

"He (Yadav) is out of jail... I am scared and afraid for my family. What will happen to them. I am already... dead after what happened to me. I have nothing more to lose," said the Nalanda schoolgirl in her WhatsApp message to media persons.

She said she is scared that her family might be eliminated, along with her, after the Patna High Court freed on bail her attacker, RJD legislator Raj Ballabh Yadav. 

Yadav was suspended by the party after reports of his crime surfaced in February. 

He was released on Saturday from jail after spending nearly six months behind bars. The state government on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking cancellation of his bail.

The victim said the family is living under constant fear and uncertainty following Yadav`s release. "Me and my family are nothing in front of the powerful Yadav. He can kill me and my family any time. Even the police are afraid of him," she said.

Nalanda Superintendent of Police Kumar Ashish said, "Security of the victim and her family were beefed up after Yadav`s release. We have deployed additional security forces." 

Kumar Ashish also said the police would provide all possible help to them and take action if the family were pressurised to withdraw the case against Yadav.

The victim earlier appeared for her Class 10 examination amid tight security in March and cleared it.

Yadav, who represents Nawada constituency in the Bihar assembly, was accused of raping the schoolgirl in Bihar Sharif on February 6.

He was on the run for about a month before surrendering before a civil court in Nalanda. 

His bail petitions were repeatedly rejected by the lower court. Following this, he moved the Patna High Court, which granted him bail on Friday.

According to the victim`s police complaint, a woman named Sulekha Devi had taken her to an undisclosed location in Nalanda and forced her to have liquor, after which she was raped by a man, later identified as Yadav.

After the rape, the woman even offered her Rs 30,000.

The local court in Nalanda in June framed charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code against Yadav and all other accused persons.