India / She was harassing me: Rabri Devi’s counter complaint against Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya Rai, the estranged daughter-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, and her mother-in- law Rabri Devi have lodged complaints of cruelty against each other at two different police stations in Patna while police said they would investigate the allegations.

In her complaint Sunday evening, Rai accused her mother-in-law, husband Tej Pratap Yadav and sister-in-law Misa Bharti of torturing her for dowry and dragging her out of house with the help of security personnel.

Rabri Devi hit back with a counter complaint Monday morning with the Sachivalya police station alleging that Aishwarya was harassing her. RJD MLA and a close associate of Rabri Devi and Lalu Prasad, Shakti Yadav alleged that Rai misbehaved with “madam”.

The Station House Officer (SHO) of Women police station Arti Jaiswal said Rai’s FIR was lodged under sections of 498 A of the Indian Penal Code (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt.), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 3/4 (penalty for demanding dowry).

The SHO of Sachivalaya police station Raghunath Prasad said that a compliant petition had been sent by Rabri Devi and police will investigate the matter.

Rai’s father, Chandrika Rai, RJD MLA, a six-time lawmaker and former minister of Bihar, termed the charges levelled by Rabri Devi and her supporters as ‘baseless.’ “I have not given such values to my children to misbehave with elders,” he said and added that he will take the matter to State Women Commission and ensure that justice is done.

In her FIR, Rai has also accused her sister-in-law and Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti of torturing her at the behest of her estranged husband Tej Pratap Yadav.

Rai, whose marriage with Tej Pratap began on a wrong foot, accused her mother-in-law of slapping her and pulling her hair on Sunday when she went to the latter to speak about some objectionable posters about her parents circulating in the Patna University. “But she got angry over me and dragged me out of the house,” she said in her complaint.

Tej Pratap who had earlier filed for divorce, was the health minister in the grand alliance government and is an MLA from Mahua in Vaishali district. “The judgment is likely to come on December 17,” said Chandrika Rai. “We have made all attempts to salvage our child’s marriage but it has been of no avail. I will fight these people socially as well as politically.”

Aishwaraya Rai in her FIR said that she had also lodged a complaint against her in-laws for domestic violence but the order in that case is still pending.

“Since June, I was not even provided food and my father somehow managed to make food available to me. Due to the way I was dragged out, I have also sustained injury in my head, knee and hand. My mobile phone, as I had shot video footage of their misbehavior and belongings, including clothes, have also remained in the 10, Circular road residence of former CM. I had to leave without even slippers,” she wrote in her complaint.