An MLA of Bihar’s ruling BJP was on Tuesday stabbed to death in public by a lady school principal who had levelled charges of rape and sexual exploitation against him last year. The incident shocked the state, prompting chief minister Nitish Kumar to suggest frisking of people visiting MLAs from now on.
Raj Kishore Kesri, 51, an MLA from Purnea in eastern Bihar, was fatally attacked with a butcher’s knife by Rupam Pathak, 37, principal of Rajhans Public School, when he was meeting people at his house at Sipahitola area in Purnea town at about 9 am. Pathak hid the knife, said to be over 15 inches long, under her shawl and shoved it into the MLA’s left abdomen while speaking to him in a crowd of about 150 people. A profusely bleeding Kesri was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead at 10.10 am due to deep abdominal injuries.
The MLA’s bodyguards and supporters instantly grabbed Pathak and beat her up, drawing blood from the face and the knee, before handing her over to the police. She was rushed to Katihar Medical College. Writhing in pain and weeping as first aid was administered, she refused to believe the MLA was dead. “Kabhi nahin marega paapi... Woh meri zindagi kharab kar chukka hai... Mujhe phansi de dijiye... Mat bachaiye mujhe... Main jeena nahin chahti (The sinner will never die. He has ruined my life. Hang me, do not save my life. I do not want to live),” she told journalists.
Pathak, who has been living separately in Purnea from her Assam-based businessman husband and children for over 10 years, had alleged in April 2010 that Kesri, who won the last four consecutive Assembly polls from Purnea, and his assistant Vipin Rai had repeatedly raped her. Her allegations were first reported in a small Purnea-based tabloid, following which an FIR was lodged at the SP’s behest. But she said in an affidavit on June 14 that her charges were “false” and made “under outside influence”, and that she wanted to withdraw the FIR. She repeated the same statements before a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC four days later.
Sources said the slain BJP legislator and the woman knew each other well for the past few years. “The MLA had inaugurated her school and was chief guest at its annual function. He had also got a road leading to the school built using his MLALAD funds,” said BJP sources who knew both Kesri and Pathak.
Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP described Kesri as an “amiable, active and capable leader” and Pathak as a “blackmailer”. He warned the media not to “indulge in (the dead MLA’s) character assassination and sensationalise the murder by presenting one-sided facts”. The Opposition CPI(M-L) women’s wing led a procession outside the Bihar BJP headquarters to protest against Mr Modi’s statements about Pathak, alleging the ruling party was trying to influence the probe into the murder and its motives.