A District Court found Kuldeep Sengar guilty in the high-profile case that sent shock-waves ever sinceit first came to light in April 2018, when the survivor tried to commit self immolation outside UP Chief Minsiter Yogi Adityanath’s home demanding justice. Sengar’s co-accused Shashi Singh was acquitted, giving him benefit of doubt.

The court observed, “Sengar was a powerful person, the victim was a village girl, not from a cosmopolitan educated area which led to delay in filing case. I found her statement truthful, unblemished that she was sexually assaulted and under threat”.

The Court convicted Sengar under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code as well as section 5(c) of POCSO Act for the offence of public servant committing penetrative sexual assault against a child. Reportedly, Kuldeep Sengar broke down after hearing the verdict in court. The survivor, now aged 19, was a minor at the time of the fateful incident.

The crime was committed in 2017, but Sengar who was only recently expelled by the BJP, used his political might to ensure he escaped justice for as long as he could. He was arrested only in April 2018, days after the survivor threatened to set herself ablaze in from the UP Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath’s Home in Lucknow. Sengar was a four-time BJP MLA from Bangermaru in UP; he was expelled, a little too late, a year later, in April this year.

Though the crime was committed in UP, the case was transferred to Delhi as per directions of the Supreme Court after the then CJI received a letter from the survivor, a girl who was a minor at the time of the rape, that she was being threatened by Sengar. In fact, the survivor and her lawyer sustained grievous injuries and escaped within an inch of their lives in July this year, when a truck rammed into their vehicle on their way to court. The survivor lost both her aunts in the accident that is being viewed by many as a premeditated attack to silence the survivor for good.

The incident involving the truck once again highlighted the importance of having a strong victim/witness protection programme that needs to be effectively implemented, especially in cases of rape.

After this incident, CRPF security was provided to the survivor and her family members. The survivor’s statement was recorded by a special court in in-camera proceedings while she was recovering in AIIMS, Delhi after having been airlifted from UP. Earier, the survivor’s father died under mysterious circumstances in police custody after being allegedly framed in an illegal arms case. A local court has framed charges of murder against Sengar, his brother Atul and 9 others in this case too.

The proceedings

The proceedings of this case were taking place in-camera i.e. without an audience, in closed court room and during this, thirteen prosecution witnesses and nine defence witnesses were examined; the mother and uncle of the survivor being the key witnesses.

The court had framed charges against the two accused under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping or inducing a woman to compel for marriage), 376 (rape) and other relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The quantum of the sentence has not yet been decided and the accused will be heard on the quantum on December 19. Both charges under IPC as well as the POCSO Act provide for minimum rigorous imprisonment of 10 years and maximum punishment of life imprisonment as well as fine.

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A man claiming to be a witness of the Rae Bareli accident involving the Unnao rape survivor, has alleged that an attempt was made on his life after his car was hit by a truck, the police said.

Awadhesh Pratap Singh, a resident of village Gaura-Katherwa in Unnao, says the attack followed the same pattern of a truck hitting a car on the highway, reversing and speeding in for a second hit, The Telegraph reported. Awadhesh has previously said that he had been threatened multiple times before as well, for his police statement about the June 28 collision and that he had informed the police on two occasions about the same.

“On Friday, at around 3 pm he was going towards Unnao with two people in a car. Their vehicle had overtaken a truck during which their car was touched by the truck. He filed a complaint- stating that he is the prime witness of the Raebareli accident case and there has been an attempt to murder him (mere uparjaanlewahamla karaya gayahai),” said MP Verma, Unnao’s senior police official.

Awadhesh, former Pramukh of Nawabganj block, has told police he had seen the June 28 attempt on the 19-year-old rape complainant that critically injured her and her lawyer and killed two of her aunts. He said he had witnessed the incident when he was standing by the roadside in the Rae Bareli village of AtauraBujurg, where he was visiting relatives, when he saw the truck swerve to the right, ram the victims’ car, reverse and ram it again.

Regarding the incident that took place with him, he said he was returning home from Lucknow after business. With him was Rajesh Kumar, a family friend of the rape complainant whom he had gotten to know in connection with the court cases. Awadhesh had offered to make a small detour and drop Rajesh home, a resident of Arjunamau village, but it is unclear why he hadn’t done so before entering Unnao.

“My companion (Rajesh), who was driving, lost control and the car struck the iron rails of the road divider. The truck reversed a few meters and sped at us again but we opened the doors and ran away unhurt,” police quoted from Awadhesh’s complaint.

Ajay Rai Verma, Ajgain station house officer, said: “The driver ran away, leaving the truck behind. We have registered a case.” An FIR has been registered against the truck driver under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

He said the truck was carrying a fake number plate but was confident that the police would soon identify its owner and catch the driver.

The Unnao case

A 17-year-old girl from Uttar Pradesh went missing two years ago on June 11, 2017. Nine days after the family filed a missing complaint, the girl escaped and alleged that she was raped twice, first by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar who had met her on the pretext of providing her a job, and then again kidnapped and gang-raped for a week by his henchmen at the behest of Sengar’s brother Atul Singh.

After she tried to immolate herself outside the UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s office, the incident came to light. Her father was beaten up and arrested under the Arms Act on the behest of Sengar. He later died in police custody.

On April 12, 2018 a case was registered against Sengar and the case was transferred to the CBI. Prior to this the victim and her family had to face humiliation where under the garb of protection they were confined to a hotel room, without water or electricity.

In August 2018, a key witness in the murder of the survivor’s father, Yunus, died under suspicious circumstances and was buried the same evening without a post-mortem.

In December 2018, an FIR was registered against the survivor and her family for submitting forged documents as proof that she was a minor during the rape.

On July 04, 2019, the survivor’s uncle was sentenced to ten years in jail for a two-decade-old attempt to murder case filed by Atul Singh.

On July 28, two years after the incident took place, the survivor’s car was hit by a truck. The registration plate of the truck was covered in grease. The survivor and her lawyer suffered severe injuries and two of her aunts died in the accident.

She was airlifted from a hospital in Lucknow and brought to the AIIMS for better care. Even as the survivor and the lawyer were battling for their lives, the survivor’s mother had alleged the accident to be a ‘conspiracy’. On July 29, 2019 a fresh FIR was lodged against BJP MLA Sengar along with 29 others for criminal conspiracy to kill the survivor and eye-witness in a car accident.

After taking cognizance of the letter, the rape survivor had written to the Supreme Court (SC) just days before the accident expressing danger and threat to her life, the SC directed the transfer of all the cases registered in connection with the incident to the CBI in Delhi.

The central investigating agency filed a chargesheet in the case on October 12 dropping the murder charge against BJP MLA Sengar and his aides in connection with the road accident. After being discharged from the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi last month, the victim along with her family is under Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) security here on the directions of the apex court.

Related:

Selective Silence & Outrage: The Unnao Story
SC transfers Unnao case to Delhi, orders CBI to complete probe in 7 days
Unnao Story Is The Failure Of Indian system
Vociferous protests by Civil Society and Political Parties as Unnao survivor battles for life
Key witness in Unnao case dies abruptly, is buried without post-mortem
Unnao residents hold audacious rally supporting BJP MLA accused of rape

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Image Courtesy: PTI

On Tuesday, there were vociferous protests and sloganeering by opposition parties over the incident of accident of Unnao rape survivor after which she is critically injured. The protests began soon after the house was convened for the day and were led by Congress and supported by TMC, BSP and DMK. The members shouted “we want justice” during the protests.

A day before, on Monday, hundreds of protesters gathered at India Gate in the evening to express support and demand justice for the survivor who was seriously injured in a road accident in Uttar Pradesh. Swaraj Abhiyan leader, Yogendra Yadav, who joined the protest said, “The incident appears to be an attack and not an accident. It should be remembered that the victim’s father had earlier been killed while he was in police custody and the witness to the father’s killing died under suspicious circumstances,”

The protesters gathered at India Gate said, “Tum Akeli Nahin Ho”. You are not alone!

Noted activist Kavita Krishnan said,

This smashed car is a symbol of smashed justice for rape victims in Modi-Yogi-BJP rule. A truck, coming the wrong way, with number plate blacked out, smashes into the rape victim’s car, injuring her & her lawyer, killing 2 others. SHAME!!!

Today, RTI protests have been aligned with Unnao protests. Co-convenor of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, Anjali Bhardwaj said,

Today’s #SaveRTI protests will be held outside UP Bhawan, Sardar Patel Marg, Delhi at 1 pm to raise our voices against state impunity in #UnnaoCase . We will be drafting & filing RTI applications from there. RTI is key to question abuse of power & seek accountability.

On Sunday, a speeding truck hit the car in which the survivor was travelling with her family and the lawyer to Rai Bareilli. Two members of the family were killed while the lawyer and the survivor were seriously injured. Reportedly, the truck’s nameplate had been blackened. Also, the truck was driving on the wrong side of the road. The driver had fled the spot.

The incident has generated widespread outrage and shock, especially since there have been more deaths in the case earlier. The survivor’s father was killed after a deadly attack in custody, and even two eyewitnesses.

A case against BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar was filed on Monday by the survivor’s family alleging “criminal conspiracy” behind the car clash.

The case had drawn everyone’s attention when the girl had tried to self-immolate herself in front of the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s house last year alleging the Sengar had raped her. The incident happened in 2017.

On Tuesday NDTV also reported that the jailed MLA Sengar used to make calls from the prison to threaten the family of the survivor. In the FIR filed by the family, they alleged that the jailed MLA would call and say that the he had the government’s support and the police would, on repeated occasions ask them to compromise. As per the FIR, the police personnel in charge of the security of the rape survivor had informed Kuldeep Sengar of her movements. The case has been transferred to CBI on Monday night.

In another update, when questions were raised by several quarters including Priyanka Gandhi that what was the MLA still doing in BJP,

Why do we give people like Kuldeep Sengar the strength and protection of political power and abandon their victims to battle for their lives alone? This FIR clearly states that the family was threatened and apprehensive. It even mentions the possibility of a planned accident.

BJP claimed that the party suspended Sengar in April 2018. Howver, there has been no mention of this in the media reports.

Rahul Gandhi also tweeted saying,

Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao A new special education bulletin for Indian women. Don’t ask questions if a BJP MLA is accused of having raped you.

AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal said,

Systematic attempts to eliminate the Unnao rape victim and her family appear to be a pre-planned conspiracy & a mockery of rule of law. How can any civilised society allow such state sponsored barbarism?

Many sections have demanded the resignation of UP CM Adityanath and #AdityanathMustResign trended almost all day on Twitter on Tuesday.

Days before the accident, the Unnao survivor wrote to CJI before the accident saying “People came to my house, threatened me”. The case has highlighted several disturbing questions like, why was the number plate blackened, and the security missing.

News18 reported that the survivor has suffered a rib fracture and bleeding in her lungs. Reportedly her condition is serious and she has been unconscious since the time of the accident. She has suffered serious head injuries and several fractures in the legs.
 

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DNA Protest against rape

BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar is one of the accused in the gang-rape. The father of the gang-rape survivor was allegedly abducted by Sengar’s brother Atul and his aides, at the behest of Sengar, in early April 2018. CBI has listed Yunus as an eyewitness; he had a grocery shop near where the survivor’s father was allegedly tied to a tree and beaten, The Telegraph reported, adding that Sengar allegedly caused the survivor’s father to be implicated in a false illegal arms case. The father was arrested, and on April 8 died in police custody. 

Yunus was quickly buried following his death, and no post-mortem was conducted. A source from the CBI, which is investigating the Unnao case, told The Telegraph that Yunus’s “family members did not inform us about his death. They buried him silently. We need time to take a decision on this development.” Yunus’s neighbours in Unnao’s Makhi told the Times of India that Yunus fell ill on August 18, and passed away while being rushed to the district hospital. However, the DNA reported that, according to villagers in Makhi, Yunus took ill suddenly and died before he could be taken to the hospital. 

The Unnao gang-rape survivor’s uncle has alleged that Sengar is responsible for Yunus’s death. “I am sure Kuldeep is behind his death. I have written to the CBI, the district magistrate and the superintendent of police of Unnao to exhume Khan’s body for a post-mortem,” the uncle said on Wednesday, August 22, The Telegraph reported. Yunus’s “family members have said he fell ill suddenly and died. They hurriedly buried him under pressure from the MLA,” the uncle said. However, Yunus’s wife, Sabina told reporters that he had had a liver infection for four months, and was being treated, and was buried following his death. She said Yunus’s family had no knowledge of the gang-rape survivor’s uncle’s accusations, and that they would not take objection to the body being exhumed, The Telegraph reported. 

The survivor’s uncle has also alleged that Sengar has made moves to impede the case. He said, “While the victim was a minor when she was raped, Kuldeep recently forced the teachers of the school where she studied to change her date of birth to prove that she was an adult at that time. The CBI visited the school recently and recovered the original documents,” the Telegraph reported. The survivor’s family has alleged that Sengar’s aides have threatened witnesses and asked villagers to stay away from the CBI, The New Indian Express reported. 

Both Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his brother Atul are in prison with their aides. The CBI has named Kuldeep and four aides in a chargesheet for alleged kidnapping, inducement and rape. In a separate chargesheet, the brother Atul and his aides have been named for the alleged murder of the survivor’s father. 
 

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