Unnao rape case: CBI to challenge suspension of Kuldeep Singh Sengar's life sentence in Supreme Court
When the Delhi HC granted bail to Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the Unnao rape survivor decried the decision, alleging that the ex-BJP MLA had been let out ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections in 2027. She also said that the HC's decision was tantamount to death.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is preparing to immediately challenge the suspension of Kuldeep Singh Sengar's life sentence in the Unnao rape case in the Supreme Court, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday night, citing officials.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday had granted bail to former BJP MLA Sengar, suspending his sentence as his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence in the rape case remained pending.
Granting bail, the HC also imposed several conditions on Sengar, directing him to furnish a personal bond of ₹15 lakh with three sureties of the like amount.
The former BJP MLA was further warned against going within a five-km radius of the Unnao rape survivor's residence in Delhi, or threatening her or her mother.
Sengar still remains in prison as he is also serving a 10-year term for the custodial death of the rape survivor's father.
Survivor labels bail decision as ‘death’
As the Delhi HC granted bail to Sengar, the rape survivor decried the decision, alleging that the ex-BJP MLA had been let out ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections in 2027.
She also said that the HC's decision was tantamount to death.
“I heard the judgment, and I felt very bad. I wanted to kill myself then and there, but I stopped after thinking about my family. Injustice has been done to us. Elections are coming, and he has been released on bail so that his wife can contest the polls,” the survivor was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The survivor had added, “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).”
The survivor was a minor when she was kidnapped and raped by Kuldeep Singh Sengar in 2017, and also raised concerned about the safety of her family after the Delhi HC's decision.
"I have small children. There is an elderly, differently-abled mother-in-law and my husband at home. The safety of my children is the biggest concern," she was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Before the CBI's statement on Wednesday night, the survivor had also vowed to challenge the HC's decision in the Supreme Court.