Asha Rani

Asha Rani is an Indian politician and criminal belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party. She was a member of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in India until convicted on charges of having abducted a maid and abetted in her death by burning.

She was elected from Bijawar of Madhya Pradesh seat in the 2008 state assembly elections.

Tijji Bai abduction and death

Her husband Ashok Veer Vikram Singh, a former Samajwadi Party member of the state assembly and a dreaded gangster of Bhopal, had abducted Tijji and brought her to Bhopal. She was raped, and later became a bonded labourer, effectively imprisoned within the house. Once she had managed to run away to Delhi, but was brought back.

In 2007, Tijji Bai set herself aflame. The incident became well known when neighbours saw her in flames, but instead of running around she was sitting quietly. Though a charge was registered, it was not followed up.

In May 2013, his husband was convicted in the murder and sexual exploitation of his grandniece Vasundhara Bundela. Subsequently the Tijji-bai case was investigated, and Asha Rani was charged. She then went into hiding for several months. When she was about to lose her state assembly seat for missing sessions for 60 days, she emerged to attend the assembly and was arrested. Later she was convicted in 2013 and was sentenced to jail for 10 years. She was disqualified as a member of legislative assembly under the provisions of Representation of the People Act that disqualifies who has been convicted under sections of various laws. She was also the first legislator from the state and the first female legislator in country to be disqualified under the law.