Gayatri Prasad Prajapati is a former Indian politician belonging to the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...

and a convicted criminal. He was convicted of rape, criminal conspiracy, and criminal intimidation. In 2021 he was sentenced to 5yr jail by Allahabad High court. He was a former cabinet minister in the government of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and served as Minister of Transport. He also served as a mining minister.

Early life

Prajapati was born in a poor

Kumhar Kumhar or Kumbhar is a Indian caste system, caste or community in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Kumhars have historically been associated with the art of pottery. Etymology The Kumhars derive their name from the Sanskrit word ''Kum ...

family from

Amethi Amethi is a city situated in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Gauriganj is the administrative headquarters of the Amethi district. This district is a part of Ayodhya division in the Awadh region of the state. Amethi was 72nd district of ...

. He established Gayadai College there.

Allegations

On a complaint filed by activist and advocate

Nutan Thakur Nutan Thakur, a former journalist, is a social and political activist from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, associated with a registered political party Azad Adhikar Sena, being led by her husband ex IPS officer Amitabh Thakur. She is also an advocat ...

, Prajapati was under the

Lokayukta The Lokayukta (also Lok Ayukta; ''lokāyukta'', "civil commissioner''"'') is an Indian Parliamentary Ombudsman who may be appointed for each of the State Governments of India. The role was introduced by the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act of 2013 to ...

scanner for corruption in illegal mining. Later Nutan Thakur's husband ex IPS officer and Present, Adhikar Sena alleged that ex

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Mulayam Singh Yadav Mulayam Singh Yadav (22 November 1939 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian politician, a socialism, socialist figure and founder of the Samajwadi Party. Over the course of his political career spanning more than six decades, he served for three t ...

threatened him for his wife's Lokayukta case against Prajapati. Nutan Thakur also registered a criminal case against Prajapati for framing her and her husband in a false rape case, which is presently under trial before a Lucknow Court. On 17 February 2017, the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

directed

police to lodge a complaint in connection with a rape case. He was arrested in

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

on March 15, 2017 after an escape on February 27, 2017. In 2016

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, officially known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, is the high court based in the city of Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established o ...

charged him with allowing illegal mining in his capacity of mining minister in Shamli, Hamirpur, Fatehpur, Siddharthnagar, Deoria, Kaushambi and Saharanpur - in violation of rules and ban by the

National Green Tribunal The National Green Tribunal (NGT) is a statutory body in India that deals with expeditious disposal of cases related to environmental protection and other natural resources. It was set up under the National Green Tribunal Act in 2010. India ...

.The Daily Fix: CBI raids just after SP-BSP alliance raise further questions about its impartiality
Scroll.in, 7 January 2019.CBI raids 12 places in UP, Delhi
in connection with

illegal sand mining Sand theft or unauthorised or illegal sand mining leads to a generally unknown global example of natural and non-renewable resource depletion problem comparable in extent to global water scarcity. Beach theft is illegal removal of large quantiti ...

(), Newsonair.com, 6 Jan 2019.IAS officer, legislator among 14 raided by CBI in UP, Delhi
Hindustan Times, 5 Jan 2019.Illegal sand mining case: CBI conducts raids in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi
India Today, 5 January 2019.

Rape

In February 2017, a woman from Chitrakoot, alleged that Prajapati had raped her three years previously. Prajapati reportedly took photos and continued to rape her for two years by threatening to leak the photos. He also falsely promised to give her an important position in

Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

. While the victim later filed a complaint, the Uttar Pradesh Police refused to file an FIR on the orders of

. The woman then approached

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, which ordered the police to lodge a report. In February 2017 he was found to be absconding, but was arrested a month later in Lucknow. On 12 November 2021, Prajapati was sentenced to life by MP MLA court Lucknow.

References

Living people State cabinet ministers of Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2012–2017 Indian prisoners and detainees Crime in Uttar Pradesh Rape in India Year of birth missing (living people) People from Amethi Samajwadi Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh Indian people convicted of rape Indian politicians convicted of crimes {{UttarPradesh-SP-politician-stub