Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Raj Ballabh Yadav, who was accused of raping a minor girl at his official residence on 6th February and has been a fugitive since, surrendered last week in the Bihar Shareef Court premises. Raj Ballabh won from Nawada seat in 2015 and was also a minister in the Rabri Devi government. In a state where accusations of murder and land-grabbing against politicians is a regular affair, Yadav’s case manages to stand out for a number of reasons.

First, there is the crime itself. Yadav has not only been accused of raping a girl, but the FIR also offers a glimpse at the human trafficking that seems to be thriving, with the blessings of local politicians no less. On February 9, a minor girl lodged an FIR in which she complained that on February 6, her neighbour Sulekha Devi had allegedly taken her to MLA Yadav’s house on the pretext of going to a birthday party. The FIR goes on to say that Sulekha Devi sold the minor for Rs 30,000. The minor alleges that Yadav forced her to drink alcohol and watch pornography, after which he raped her. The minor girl is presently busy with her studies (she has her Class X board examinations this year), but she believes she will get justice.

Sulekha Devi was arrested along with daughter Chhoti Devi, mother Radha Devi and her husband. The MLA’s son, Akhilesh, was also arrested for attempting to destroy evidence, but the MLA himself was on the run till now.

On February 15, the ADJ court issued an arrest warrant against Yadav, his son, his bodyguard and Sulekha Devi.

This case received a lot of media attention and in an attempt to do some damage control, RJD suspended Raj Ballabh from the party on the same day that the arrest warrant was issued. A day later, RJD’s Nawada district president announced Yadav would surrender on 18th, but this did not happen.

On February 20, the additional district and sessions judge Rashmi Shikha  rejected Yadav’s anticipatory bail petition at Bihar Shareef, after hearing both sides for an hour. The minor complainant’s lawyer opposed the bail plea and cited Supreme Court judgments, contending that the accused cannot be granted bail under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (2012).

Insiders claim Yadav has been able to stay out of the law’s reach because as a politician who has been in this business for 20 years, he is protected by the people he knows. For instance, rumour has it that Yadav was able to go underground because the fact that the minor had named him was made known to him before it reached the media. This gave Yadav the head start he needed.

However, Yadav faces a dynamic foe in Patna’s DIG Shaleen, who appears to have taken Bihar’s crime rates as a personal mission. Over the past few weeks, Shaleen issued an arrest warrant against Yadav and seized some of the MLA’s property. This tightened the net around Yadav, but the MLA remained untraceable until March 10.

There are also whispers in Patna’s political corridors that pressure was put on Yadav to surrender, by RJD’s high command. Yadav has apparently been told he can engage a top lawyer from New Delhi for his plea (possibly Ram Jethmalani). However, there is no confirmation of this so far.

Shaleen told Newslaundry that the police will soon appeal in court for Yadav’s remand so that they can interrogate him further.