A special MP/MLA court in Badaun has sentenced Yogendra Sagar, a former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA, to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 in connection with the abduction and rape of a student 13 years ago.

Sagar was convicted by Judge Akhilesh Kumar on Saturday for abducting an undergraduate student on April 23, 2008 from Bilsi and, thereafter, raping her on multiple occasions, said additional government advocate Madanlal Rajput.

In case of non-payment of the fine, he would have to undergo an additional imprisonment of three months.

The former MLA was taken into police custody after the court pronounced the verdict. He was then taken for his medical and Covid tests.

Yogendra Sagar was, till now, out on bail given by the Supreme Court. He was the BSP MLA from Bilsi seat of Budaun district at the time of the incident.

During the trial, the girl testified that she was kept by Sagar at his government residence in Lucknow, and was raped by him and two other men.

The other two — Tejendra Sagar, and Neeraj Sharma — were sentenced to a life term, earlier by the court.

She said after her abduction she was taken to various places, including Delhi, and was repeatedly raped by the three.

When pressure from the police and media mounted, the accused abandoned the victim in front of a police station in Muzaffarnagar.

Yogendra Sagar is now in the Bharatiya Janata Party and his son Kushagra Sagar is a BJP MLA from the Bisauli Assembly constituency, and wife Priti has been the chairperson of the district panchayat.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed.)