Congress leader gets 9 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping minor domestic help

A fast track court has convicted a local Congress leader for raping his minor domestic help earlier this year and sentenced him to nine years of rigorous imprisonment. In the verdict delivered on Tuesday evening, the Additional District Judge Ashok Kumar Sahu also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on Arvind Tiwari (38) after holding him guilty of raping the maid in his house, public prosecutor Rajkumar Upadhyay said on Wednesday in Raigarh.

In case of his failure to pay compensation, Tiwari's jail term will be extended by six months, the court said.

According to prosecution, Tiwari had raped the 17-year-old girl at his house located on Kotra Road here on January 11.  He also threatened the victim of dire consequences if she disclosed the incident to anyone. Later, mother of the victim lodged a complaint with City Kotwali police station following which Tiwari was arrested under charge of rape and other sections of IPC.

Tiwari had contested corporators election of Raigarh Municipal Corporation on Congress ticket in 2009.

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