Bihar MLA disqualified after life imprisonment verdict for raping minor

Suspended RJD legislator Raj Ballabh Yadav, sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a minor girl, was disqualified on Wednesday as an MLA of Bihar, officials said.

Five days after a special court in Patna sentenced Yadav to life imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old girl at his residence in Bihar Sharif, the district headquarter of Nalanda, in February 2016, he was disqualified with effect from the date on which he was sentenced by the court.

Yadav was held guilty by the court under Section 376 of the IPC and Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act, 2012. The Bihar Legislative Assembly issued a notification stating that Yadav (56) was disqualified.

According to the notification, Yadav, who represented Nawada constituency, has been disqualified. Yadav is the second RJD legislator, after MLA Illyas Hussain, to lose the Bihar assembly membership. Hussain was disqualified last month after he was convicted in a corruption case by a CBI court in Ranchi two months ago.