Key Points:
Champa Biswas, wife of an IAS officer, was raped repeatedly by RJD leader Mrityunjay Yadav aka Bablu from 1995 till 1997.
This time in Bihar has been called 'jungle raj', referncing the lack of law and order under Lalu Prasad Yadav's leadership.
Champa fought for justice against the police and the ruling party. Bablu was arrested, but later acquitted.
With the Bihar Assembly Elections around the corner, political spats are rife between the BJP-JD(U) alliance and the opposition RJD, dredging up recollections of ‘jungle raj’ in the state. This was a time when no one - not even government officials - was safe.
Bihar in the 1990s and early 2000s regularly made national headlines for kidnappings, extortion, murder and rape. Under Lalu Prasad Yadav, then Chief Minister, the state ranked lowest across socio-economic metrics while local gangs reigned with a free hand. RJD’s 15-year-long reign was defined by several high-profile crimes under Lalu’s tenure: the murder of an IIT graduate, Satyendra Dubey, working on a project with the NHAI; the lynching of a Dalit IAS officer, G Krishnaiyyah, by a mob connected to a close associate of Lalu; the ‘double suicide’ of Shilpi Jain and Gautam Singh, whose bodies were discovered in Lalu’s brother-in-law’s car; and the repeated rape of Champa Biswas at the hands of RJD leader Bablu Yadav.
Champa Biswas was the wife of 1982 batch IAS officer B.B. Biswas, who was appointed as Director of Social Security to Bihar’s Labour Department in 1995. He was provided a government residence at Bailey Road, Patna. The neighbouring house was allotted to RJD leader Hemlata Yadav, chairperson of the State Social Welfare Advisory Board, who stayed there with her son Mrityunjay aka Bablu Yadav.
On 7 September 1995, Hemlata called Champa to her house on the pretext of helping with some housework. Once inside, Champa is locked in a room with Bablu by Hemlata. This was the first time he raped her. Before sending Champa back, Hemlata instructs her to stay quite under threat of harm to her family.
Over the next two years, till November 1997, Bablu regularly confronted Champa at her house. He, along with a gang of friends, raped not only Champa, but also her mother, her sister-in-law, her niece, and two maids. During this time, Champa had an abortion and got sterilised “to avoid pregnancy due to repeated rape.”
In 1997, she filed a complaint with Bihar police, but it was ignored. Her husband, who allegedly only learned of the situation in July 1997, approached two senior officials asking for help, but to no avail. Champa allegedly even approached Lalu himself but was told to let it go. She then approached state BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi – this is when the incident first came to public light.
See Also: Spurt in Criminal Activities in Bihar
Sushil was leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly. He popularised the term ‘jungle raj’ to refer to the law-and-order situation in the state under Lalu’s rule. After the complaint, Sushil hosted a press conference in August, saying, “This just shows that even women belonging to respectable and influential families are helpless against RJD workers, who know they can get away with anything.” Meanwhile, the rape continued.
In November 1997, Champ and her family moved to Delhi, fearing for their safety. It was in 1998, through a letter to Bihar Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari, that action was finally taken. In her letter, Champa detailed all that Bablu had done and alleged that her niece and two maids had gone missing, fearing that they had been kidnapped or committed suicide.
Hemlata and Bablu denied the allegations against them, saying that Champa’s accusation was to detract from a corruption inquiry against her husband. Mrityunjay Yadav was an important member of the RJD who hoped to climb to the top of the party leadership. His mother was a close confidante of Lalu and Bablu himself had written a biography on him, titled Rags to Riches. He had previously been detained for molesting the daughter of a local politician, but nothing had come of it. RJD leaders rallied behind Bablu following the accusations – the party chief whip in the Assembly, Mohammed Nemtullah, said, “I know Hemlata's family personally. I don't think the boy could have done this.”
In August 1998, she gave her statement in Delhi, which was corroborated by 35 witnesses and DNA evidence. Later that month, Bablu was arrested along with his mother in Bihar. They were held in jail for 5 and 3 years respectively, until a trial court convicted them in 2002. Other RJD officials were also named in the case, along with Lalu (who was dropped from the chargesheet due to lack of evidence). Bablu was given 10 years in prison, while his mother was sentenced to three, though she did not serve any more time in jail.
Champa’s husband, B.B. Biswas, died the same year in Jharkhand where he was posted. Champa, who had earlier been awarded Rs. 7 lakhs as compensation by the Bihar government, was provided a job on compassionate grounds.
But justice was short-lived. In 2012, Patna High Court reviewed the trial court order, questioning why Champa had stayed quiet for two years and why she had been sterilised. The defence alleged that Champa and Bablu had been in a consensual relationship, doubling down on the argument that the case had been fabricated to avoid a corruption scandal. The previous order was overturned. Both the accused were acquitted and are now living freely. Meanwhile, Champa lives an anonymous life in Kolkata. [Rh/DS]
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