The survivor of the 2017 Unnao rape case on December 24 described the Delhi High Court’s decision to suspend the jail term of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar as “kaal (death)” for her family and said she would approach the Supreme Court challenging the order.
On December 23, the Delhi High Court suspended Sengar’s life sentence in the rape case and granted him bail pending the hearing of his appeal against the conviction handed down by a trial court in December 2019.
While granting bail, the court imposed strict conditions, directing that Sengar must not enter a five-kilometre radius of the survivor’s residence and must not threaten her or her mother. It warned that any breach of these conditions would result in automatic cancellation of bail.
Despite the bail in the rape case, Sengar will remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year sentence in connection with the custodial death of the survivor’s father, in a case in which he has not been granted bail.
Reacting to the decision, the survivor—who was a minor when she was kidnapped and raped in 2017—told PTI over the phone from Delhi that the security cover earlier provided to her family members, lawyers and witnesses had already been withdrawn. She said the court’s order had deepened her sense of fear.
“If convicts get bail in cases like this, how will the daughters of this country remain safe? For us, this decision is no less than kaal (death),” she said.
Expressing anguish over the situation, she added, “Those with money win, those without money lose.”
The survivor said she and her mother were heading to Mandi House in Delhi to stage a protest against the verdict and confirmed that she would challenge the High Court’s order before the Supreme Court.
The Unnao rape case and related matters were transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi in August 2019 following directions from the Supreme Court.