BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar Not Charged with Murder in Unnao Rape Survivor’s Accident Case
NEW DELHI/ LUCKNOW : : The CBI on Friday filed its charge sheet against expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar and others in connection with the Unnao rape survivor’s accident in which two of her relatives were killed.
The Central Bureau of Investigation in its charge-sheet said the car crash in UP’s Raebareli on July 28 that left two of her family members dead was “caused by negligence”. Two of her aunts died in the road accident. She was airlifted from a hospital in Lucknow and brought to the AIIMS for better care.
The 15-year-old girl and her lawyer were also critically injured when the Maruti Suzuki Swift they were travelling in collided with a truck. It was raining heavily at that time.
In its first charge sheet filed before a special CBI court in Lucknow, the agency charged Sengar and all others named accused in the FIR under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation. Sengar has been expelled from the BJP.
Ashish Kumar Pal, driver of the truck which rammed into the car killing the two aunts and leaving the girl and her lawyer critically injured, has been charged with causing death by negligence 304(a), causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety (338), and rash driving (279). No charges of criminal conspiracy have been slapped against Pal in the CBI charge sheet, said officials.
The CBI in its FIR had booked Sengar and nine others under sections of the IPC related to criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and criminal intimidation. On the day of the accident, none of her security personnel of Uttar Pradesh Police were accompanying the woman. They were later suspended.
Two days after the accident, on July 30, the CBI booked Sengar, his brother Manoj Singh Sengar, Arun Singh, son-in-law of a Uttar Pradesh minister along with seven others.
After being discharged from AIIMS last month, the victim and her family are currently under CRPF cover here on the directions of the Supreme Court. The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Thursday sought seven days from a city court to provide accommodation to the victim’s family. The survivor’s kin had earlier told court that they wanted to reside in the national capital apprehending a threat in their native state of UP.
The victim, now 19 years old, was allegedly raped by Sengar on June 4, 2017, when she was a minor but her attempts to file a case did not materialise. Her father was arrested on alleged false charges levelled by the family of Sengar. She had attempted self-immolation in front of Adityanath’s residence to get the probe going in her case last year.Next day, her father was allegedly assaulted inside the prison and he died of the injuries.
The rape survivor’s family has alleged Kuldeep Sengar planned the car crash to kill her. “I have got to know that the lawmaker got it done. He is inside… he has a phone inside (the jail). He is doing everything sitting inside the jail,” the teen’s mother told reporters after the car crash in July. “Sengar is in jail but his men aren’t. He and his men were threatening us… We want justice.”
The news grabbed headlines following which the Allahabad High Court took suo motu cognisance of the case and handed over the matter to the CBI, which filed a chargesheet against Sengar in July last year. He was arrested on April 13 last year in connection with the rape case.
A four-term MLA, Sengar, who represents Bangarmau in the UP Assembly, is considered an influential Thakur leader in the region. The case in a special court hardly progressed since there were no judges to hear the matter.
The rape survivor wrote a number of letters to various authorities, including the Chief Justice of India, saying she was threatened for her life by Sengar’s kin. A letter dated July 12, written by the survivor and two of her family members, was also sent to the Allahabad High Court and other authorities of the Uttar Pradesh government. Taking note of the letter, the Supreme Court on August 1 had directed the CBI to finish the probe within a week. This deadline was repeatedly increased on the request of the agency.
(With Inputs from Lucknow Bureau).
