UP: FIR lodged against Raja Bhaiya's wife, 3 others for 'insulting dignity of woman'

A case has been lodged against the wife of former Uttar Pradesh minister and Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) president Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya and three people associated with a private television news channel here.

The case of criminal conspiracy, defamation and insulting the dignity of a woman was filed against Raja Bhaiya's wife Bhanvi Kumari and the three others at the Hazratganj police station on Monday.

On a complaint from Bhanvi Singh's sister Sadhvi Singh, the case was lodged under sections 500 (defamation), 509 (use of obscene or indecent words with intent to insult the dignity of a woman) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

It is alleged that in a special programme aired on the channel on August 28 on the divorce case of her brother-in-law Raghuraj Pratap Singh and his wife Bhanvi Singh, objectionable allegations were made regarding the complainant's relationship with the politician.

The complainant also alleged that the false and fabricated charges were deliberately levelled against her as there is an ongoing dispute regarding an ancestral property between her and her elder sister.

"No one from the channel took my version on the allegations before running the news," she said.

She also warned that in case no action was taken against the guilty, she would be forced to take the extreme step of committing suicide to protect her dignity.

According to the police, the matter is being investigated.

Raghuraj Pratap Singh is a seven-term MLA from the Kunda constituency in Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. He had floated the Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) and was elected to the Assembly in 2022. Earlier, he had contested elections as an independent and had also been a minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) governments in the state.

Presently, he is embroiled in a dispute with his wife.