The survivor of the 2017 Unnao rape case has criticised the Delhi High Court's decision to grant relief to the expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Kuldeep Singh Sengar. Sengar is currently serving a life sentence for the crime. The survivor described the court's decision as “kaal” (death) for her family, announcing that she will challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court.
The court decided to suspend the jail term of Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is serving life imprisonment in the Unnao rape case. The court ordered his release on bail pending the appeal against his conviction by the trial court, which was disposed of in December 2019.
Ordering Kuldeep Sengar's release, the court also directed that he shall not come within a 5-kilometre radius of the victim's residence and shall not threaten the survivor or her mother. It also said that violating the conditions would result in the automatic cancellation of bail.
But Kuldeep Singh Sengar will remain in jail as he is also serving 10 years of imprisonment in the custodial death of the victim's father and has not been granted bail in that case.
As the Delhi High Court verdict came, the rape victim said the security of her family members and other witnesses had already been withdrawn. She said the court's decision to suspend his life sentence only deepens her fears. The survivor was a minor when she was kidnapped and raped by Kuldeep Singh Sengar in 2017.
Reacting to the verdict, she said, “If the convict gets bail in a case like this, how will the country's daughters remain safe? For us, this decision is no less than ‘kaal’ (death).”
“Those with money win, those without money lose,” she rued.
The survivor, who was heading out with her mother to stage a protest near Mandi House against the verdict, added that she would challenge the HC order in the Supreme Court.
Women’s rights activist Yogita Bhayana, who staged a protest with the survivor's mother at India Gate on Tuesday night, shared on X a video of the survivor and her mother.
In the video, the survivor claimed that she left home in the morning to meet her lawyer, who had called her to sign some papers and attend the Supreme Court, as well as Bhayana. However, she claimed, CRPF personnel tried to send her back home.
“I was shouting that I need to visit my lawyer. I was shouting in the vehicle as well, and then the order came from the top to take me (to meet my lawyer),” she said, adding, “All I want is that justice should be done.”
She also claimed that her mother was manhandled during the protest.
A senior police officer, however, said, “We removed the protesters from the site around 8.45 pm on Tuesday and placed them in a CRPF bus. No further action was taken.”
