Woman kills BJP MLA to death in Bihar

Ruling BJP MLA from Purnea, Raj Kishore Keshari, was stabbed to death at his residence in Purnea on Tuesday allegedly by a woman who had earlier accused him of sexual harassment. 51-year-old Keshari, a four-time MLA, was meeting visitors of his constituency at his Sipahi Tola residence here this morning when the woman, Rupam Pathak, stabbed him, badly damaging his spleen, Director General of Police (DGP) Neelmani said.
As other visitors at Kesri's home watched in horror, Rupam Pathak suddenly whipped out a hidden knife and attacked the 51-year-old politician, police and witnesses said. A relative of the dead politician said he saw Kesri fall from his chair but initially thought he had simply slipped. BJP leader was rushed to a hospital where doctors pronounced him dead after trying to revive him. Some accounts said the woman was thrashed by a mob at the site. Officer Thakur denied this, but journalists saw her crying, apparently in pain, in a police van. The school teacher had last year accused Kesri of raping her and lodged a criminal case against him. But Police said the woman had subsequently withdrawn the rape charge. 'The accused has been arrested and is being interrogated,' another officer said. The news of the killing spread rapidly across Bihar, where the BJP is the junior ally of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United (JD-U). Nitish Kumar expressed shock over the incident and ordered a probe. He asked Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP to rush to Purnia. Pathak had earlier alleged that Kesri and his men had raped her for a period of three years.