Aishwarya Rai, the estranged wife of Tej Pratap Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s elder son, was allowed to enter official residence of her mother-in-law Rabri Devi after several hours of high voltage drama and police intervention, police on Monday said.
According to district police officials, Rabri Devi agreed to allow entry of her daughter-in-law in her residence on Monday morning following intervention by the Director General of Police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey.
Earlier, Rabri was adamant not to allow Aishwariya to enter and stay at her house.
In a high voltage family drama here on Sunday, Aishwarya for the first time spoke to media and levelled a series of allegations against the Yadav family. She said she was evicted from the official residence of Rabri Devi by force.
She staged a sit-in protest for hours outside the residence. Later, she was joined by her her father Chandrika Rai, former Minister and senior RJD leader, and mother Purnima Rai. They all sat along with her in protest against eviction.
During the sit-in protest Chandrika Rai left to meet DGP Pandey to seek his help for entry of his daughter in her matrimonial house. After meeting DGP, when he returned, Rai was not allow to join his daughter’s protest. He started his own sit-in near Rabri’s residence.
Meanwhile, dozens of supporters of Chandrika Rai joined dharna with him and shouted slogans against Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi.
Aishwarya then broke her silence and for the first time spoke to media outside the 10, Circular Road residence of Rabri Devi, where she was staying despite her husband Tej Pratap filing for divorce six months ago.
Aishwarya alleged that she was not provided food for the last three months by her in-laws nor was allowed to enter the family kitchen on the instructions of her sister-in-law Misa Bharti. She said she was surviving on the food sent by her parents.
Aishwarya accused Rabri Devi and Misa Bharti, Rajya Sabha member, of torturing and harassing her. “Misa regularly misbehaved with me, harassed and tortured me. Last night (Saturday) she again tortured me and threw me out of the house in the presence of Rabri Devi,” she said.
She also blamed Misa for her strained relations with husband Tej Pratap Yadav and creating rift between her husband and Tejashwi Yadav. “Misa didn’t want my relations with husband to improve,” she said.
Aishwarya and Tej Pratap were married in May 2018. The divorce plea is pending before a court.
Aishwarya”s father Chandrika Rai said he was ashamed that he married her daughter in such a family.