Jharkhand court acquits BJP MLA of rape attempt charges

Dhanbad (Jharkhand), Feb 13 (PTI) A special MP/MLA court in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district on Tuesday acquitted BJP’s Baghmara legislator Dhulu Mahto of rape attempt charges.

Special judge of Dhanbad MP/MLA court, Akhilesh Kumar, while hearing the case, said that as the prosecution could not produce evidence of the incident, accused Dhulu Mahto is being acquitted of the charges.

Additional Public Prosecutor Samit Prakash told reporters that the complainant turned hostile in the case.

A woman BJP leader had alleged that Mahto had attempted to rape her after calling her at a guest house in November 2015.

On the directive of the high court, an FIR was lodged against Mahto on October 4, 2019. Her statement was recorded on February 15, 2020.