Due to the ongoing Uttar Pradesh elections and drama created by the leftist goons in Delhi University, the news of a sex-scandal in Bihar has not got the coverage it should have got.

Local newspapers are already comparing this sex-scandal to another sex-scandal that rocked Bihar politics in 1980s. in 1982, a girl named Bobby was found dead under mysterious circumstances. It was alleged that she was sexually exploited by many powerful people, including high profile leaders of the Congress party, which ruled Bihar and India back then.

The investigations related to Bobby sex-scandal were suppressed under political pressure, and now reports are coming out about attempts being made to suppress investigations in the latest sex-scandal too, where Congress leader and brother of NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar, Brajesh Kumar Pandey is a co-accused.

According to a report published in Jansatta, the Investigation Officer (IO) got a phone call from the “right hand” man of “saaheb” on the day Brajesh Kumar was forced to resign from his post of Bihar Congress Vice President. Brajesh had to resign after the victim went public with her charges last week. She had earlier filed a case in December last year.

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The Jansatta report claims that the IO was told to go slow on the case as “Pandey ji” (Brajesh Kumar) was brother of an influential journalist (Ravish Kumar).

“Even a daayan spares 5 homes,” the caller is reported to have told the IO, which is a local proverb suggesting that even the most ruthless person (say, an uncompromising police officer) should spare a few candidates. It was a clear hint to spare the brother of Ravish Kumar.

A report published in News18 also claims that there is a pressure to go slow on the Congress leader as he is also the brother of an influential journalist. Another report quotes a former Congress MLA arguing that it is in the “interests of democracy” that the current scandal involving brother of Ravish Kumar is buried the way Bobby sex-scandal was buried!

Brajesh Kumar and Nikhil Priyadarshi, who is another accused and is a well-connected businessman, have not been arrested yet. While Nikhil is absconding, Brajesh has applied for anticipatory bail, which will be taken up for hearing on 2nd March. Brajesh is reported to be in touch with Nikhil all this while, even though he claims that he is innocent.

Victim is the daughter of a former state minister and belongs to the dalit community. She was a minor when she had to undergo the sexual exploitation and thus apart from sexual assaults, charges have been framed under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) and (Prevention of Atrocities against) SC/ST act. Recently, the victim met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Yadav seeking justice, because Congress is a partner in the ruling alliance.

Investigations reveal that not only this dalit minor girl, many other women are also victim of the sex-racket run by Brajesh Kumar and Nikhil Priyadarshi. These include actresses working in Bhojpuri and South Indian films and members of high profile families. Daughter of an IAS officer is reported to have committed suicide due to being dragged into this sex racket.

Supporters of Ravish Kumar have often claimed that the NDTV journalist should not be held accountable or asked to respond over criminal charges against his brother, but these reports of political pressure change the equations.

It should be noted that media always questions a politician if his or her kin is caught in some illegal act. Media’s argument in those cases is that the relative could have been using the political connections to carry out illegal activities. Now with reports of pressure to go slow against Brajesh Kumar, it has thrown up a similar situation. The journalistic clout and connections are being used to put pressure, and one can argue that similar connections could have been used by Brajesh Kumar to carry out his other activities.