Patna: The divorce case filed by Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi’s son, Tej Pratap Yadav, against his wife Aishwarya Rai took an ugly turn Sunday with Rai alleging that she was beaten up by Rabri, the former Bihar chief minister, and thrown out of their bungalow, 10 Circular Road.
The incident occurred at around 5.30 pm.
“I had gone to talk to my mother-in-law about a poster belittling my father and mother. I told her that the divorce was between me and her son and my parents should not be dragged into it,” Aishwarya said, demanding the arrest of her mother-in-law.
“My mother-in-law got angry, slapped me and pulled my hair. The women police constables posted there were asked to throw me out. They dragged me out of the gate without slippers.”
Once thrown out of the bungalow, Aishwarya called her father, RJD MLA Chandrika Rai, who rushed to the spot with his friends and the media. An FIR was filed against Rabri Devi at the Sachiwalaya Police Station and Aishwarya was taken to a local hospital for an injury report after Rai called up SP Garima Malik and apprised her of the situation.
“So far, my daughter faced mental torture, like denying her the basic amenities and taunts. But there no physical violence,” Rai told ThePrint. “This time she has been physically abused. We are going to demand the arrest of Rabri Devi and I will approach the state women’s commission.”
He said that he was going to take Aishwarya to his home as he feared a threat to her life. “We will still be needing the help of the police to recover Aishwarya’s belongings,” he added.
There was no response to the charges made by Aishwarya against Rabri by the family. However, RJD MLA and close family associate Shakti Yadav denied that Rabri Devi had physically assaulted Aishwarya. “There seems to be a conspiracy to defame Laluji and the family,” he said.
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A troubled marriage
This is not the first time that Aishwarya has been thrown out of the house. On 30 September, there was drama as she was denied entry into the bungalow. Police had to intervene to get her inside the house.
But despite tension in the family, Aishwarya has maintained that it was by remaining in her in-laws’ bungalow that she hoped to get justice.
The marriage has been rocky for a while. Tej Pratap, the eldest son of Lalu and Rabri, had filed a divorce petition at a family court in Patna last November, barely six months after a high-profile marriage attended by the who’s who of Bihar. Lalu was given parole to attend his son’s marriage in Patna.
The divorce, however, has become a virtual public mudslinging match as Aishwarya has alleged that her husband was a drug addict and had danced before her dressed as Radha. Tej Pratap, on the other hand, alleged that he was forced to marry Aishwarya and that his wife had married him for political benefits. Since filing the divorce petition, Tej Pratap had quit living at 10 Circular Road.
The high-profile marriage was once dubbed as the most “politically correct” wedding.
Aishwarya is not only the daughter of Chandrika Rai, a former minister and six-time MLA, she also happens to be the granddaughter of the late former CM of Bihar, Daroga Prasad Rai, a political icon in Saran district.
The marriage, though, has not worked politically as Rai lost as RJD candidate in Saran in the last Lok Sabha nor has it worked socially as it has become an embarrassment for Lalu and his family. Lalu did try to intervene and bring about a reconciliation but he gave up declaring that nobody in his family listens to him. Now there is a section in the RJD that think that the ugly separation can have political implications.
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shouldn’t have married