Day after Unnao rape survivor’s accident, BJP MLA booked for murder

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar was booked for murder and attempt to murder on Monday, a day after a truck rammed into a car carrying a minor girl who had accused him of sexual assault two years ago.

The minor girl and her lawyer ,who was at the wheel, were critically injured while two of her relatives were killed when a truck with a blackened number plate crashed into their car in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli.

Political parties raised charges of foul play in Parliament and outside, even as the Uttar Pradesh Police said it has arrested the truck driver and owner and are willing to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, asked why there was a lapse in the security cover provided to the minor girl.

“A woman is allegedly raped by a BJP MLA. Her father is beaten up and dies in custody. A key witness dies mysteriously last year. Now, her aunt, who was also a witness, is killed and her lawyer is critically injured in an accident caused by a truck with blackened number plates,” she tweeted Monday.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also alleged a conspiracy against the survivor. “Systematic attempts to eliminate the Unnao rape victim and her family appear to be a pre-planned conspiracy and a mockery of the rule of law,” he said.

Former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav demanded a CBI probe into the accident. The issue was also raised in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

The state police said it will conduct a fair and free probe.

“A primary probe suggests it was purely an accident caused by a speeding truck. The truck driver and owner have been arrested. If the family demands a CBI inquiry into the case, we’ll hand over the case to the CBI. There was no negligence in her security. She requested the personnel deputed for security not to accompany her to Raebareli yesterday because of lack of space in the vehicle,” UP director general of police O.P. Singh said.

Sengar was chargesheeted by the CBI in 2018 for criminal conspiracy in the case pertaining to the murder of the minor girl’s father.