Asha Rani

Asha Rani is an Indian politician [1] belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party. She was a member of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in India until convicted on charges of having abducted[2] a maid and abetted in her death by burning.[3][4]

She was elected from Bijawar of Madhya Pradesh seat in the 2008 state assembly elections.[5][6][7][8][9]

Tijji Bai abduction and death

Her husband Ashok Veer Vikram Singh, a former Samajwadi Party member of the state assembly and a strongarm politician, had abducted Tijji and brought her to Bhopal where she became a bonded labourer.[2]

In 2007, Tijji Bai set herself aflame. The incident became well known when neighbours saw her in flames, but instead of running around she was sitting quietly.[2] Though a charge was registered, it was not followed up.

In May 2013, her husband was convicted in a murder case.[10] Subsequently, the Tijji-Bai case was investigated, and Asha Rani was charged. She then went into hiding for several months.[11] When she was about to lose her state assembly seat for missing sessions for 60 days, she emerged to attend the assembly and was arrested.[12] She was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to ten years in jail. She was disqualified as a member of the legislative assembly under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act which disqualifies those who has been convicted under certain laws. She was the first legislator from the state and the first female legislator in the country to be disqualified under the law.[1][13]

References

  1. ^ a b Anurag Upadhyay (31 October 2013). "MP don Bhaiya Raja's wife BJP MLA Asha Rani gets 10 year jail for killing maid". India TV news. The wife of Bhopal gangster Bhaiya Raja, BJP MLA Asha Rani was today sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment by a local session court on charge of killing her maid Tijji Bai.
  2. ^ a b c "Now, all eyes on the trial of Tijji Bai death case". Hindustan Times (Bhopal). 31 May 2013. Archived from the original on 8 June 2014.She had been raped and kept as bonded labourer and was not allowed to venture out.
  3. ^ "Tijji Bai murder case: BJP MLA Asharani's bail plea rejected". Bhaskar News. 18 March 2011.
  4. ^ Staff Reporter (1 November 2013). "BJP MLA joins ex-MLA husband in jail for forcing slave to kill herself". Thehindu.com. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Election Commission of India". Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  6. ^ "State Elections 2008 - Constituency wise detail for 51-Chhatarpur Constituency of Madhya Pradesh". Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  7. ^ "BJP names 12 candidates for MP elections, replaces 2". Merinews.com. Retrieved 29 May 2018.[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ [1][permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ "State Elections 2008 - Constituency wise detail for 52-Bijawar Constituency of Madhya Pradesh". Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  10. ^ Ankur Sirothia (31 May 2013). "Former Madhya Pradesh MLA Bhaiya Raja, 4 others get life sentence in murder case". Times of India.
  11. ^ Milind Ghatwai (5 March 2011). "BJP MLA held in maid suicide case". Indian Express.
  12. ^ "BJP MLA arrested in suicide case". Thehindu.com. 5 March 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  13. ^ "BJP MLA, Bhaiya Raja get 10-yr in jail". The Pioneer. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.