Unnao rape victim opposes parole to Sengar; writes to Prez, PM

UNNAO: The victim in the 2017 Unnao rape incident has opposed the 15-day parole granted to expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is serving life sentence in the case, to attend his daughter's marriage.

The victim has issued a video statement and written to President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in this regard, claiming a threat to her life and that of her family members.

In the letter which was shared on social media along with the video, she claimed that as long as Sengar, a former MLA, remains outside jail, he will remain a threat to her, her family and witnesses in the case.

The victim also claimed that her uncle could not interim bail for her sister's marriage under a conspiracy hatched by the family members of Sengar.

The Delhi High Court had on January 16 ordered the release of Sengar on parole from January 27 to February 10 to attend his daughter's wedding.

A similar plea by Sengar was listed in the High Court in a separate case of the death of the Unnao rape victim’s father in custody in which Sengar has been serving 10 years imprisonment.

As advocate Mehmood Pracha, appearing for the complainant, submitted on Monday that he was not served with the application for interim release, the court asked Sengar’s lawyer to supply the copy and listed it for hearing on January 19.

Sengar had earlier informed the court that the wedding was scheduled for February 8.

Sengar's appeal challenging the trial court's verdict in the Unnao rape case is pending in the high court. He has sought quashing of the December 2019 judgement of the trial court which sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his life.

The girl was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor.

Sengar, a four-term MLA, was expelled by the BJP in August 2019 after his name cropped up in the rape case.

On March 13, 2020, Sengar was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in the case of the death of the rape victim’s father in custody. The court had also awarded a 10-year jail term to Sengar's brother Atul Singh Sengar and five others.

The father of the rape victim was arrested at the behest of Sengar in a case under Arms Act and died in custody on April 9, 2018.