JD-U leader brutally assaults teenager, expelled

The Janata Dal - United on Tuesday expelled its senior leader Shambhu Sharan Yadav a day after he mercilessly beat up a teenager by hanging him upside down from a pole.

Television channels showed Yadav dragging 18-year-old Rajesh Mahato by his hair and hanging him upside down with a rope before assaulting him with a stick and shoes in full public view at Mansurpur village in Vaishali district.

Yadav, the district general secretary of the JD-U, was expelled from the party at the instance of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kumar also ordered Yadav's arrest and urged Director General of Police Neelmani to ensure a speedy trial.

Yadav surrendered to the police on Tuesday at the Katahara police station. Yadav alleged that Mahato had attempted to rape his wife, who is the panchayat chief.

Some villagers claimed that Yadav's wife had taken a bribe of Rs 10,000 from the victim's family for construction of a house under the Indira Awas Yojana and he was punished for exposing the matter.

It was earlier alleged that the teenager's family had failed to repay borrowed money, police sources said. The teenager was admitted to a government hospital at Vaishali.