CRPF Personnel Push Unnao Rape Survivor’s Mother Out of Bus, Disallowed Protest Dharna
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 24: The 2017 Unnao rape case survivor on Wednesday termed the suspension of jail term of the expelled BJP leader and former UP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar as “kaal (death)” for her family and said she would move the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court’s order.
The Delhi HC on Tuesday suspended the sentence of life imprisonment for Sengar and ordered his release on bail pending the disposal of his appeal against his conviction by a trial court in December 2019. In its order, the High Court directed that Sengar shall not come within a 5-km radius of the victim’s residence and shall not threaten the survivor or her mother. It also said violation of the conditions would automatically lead to cancellation of bail.
Sengar, however, will remain in jail since he is also serving 10 years imprisonment in the custodial death case of the victim’s father and has not been granted bail in that case.
Reacting to the verdict, the survivor, who was a minor when she was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017, said security for her family members, lawyers and witnesses had already been withdrawn and the court’s decision had deepened her fears. “If the convict gets bail in cases like this, how will the country’s daughters remain safe? For us, this decision is no less than ‘kaal’ (death),” she said.
“Those with money win, those without money lose,” she rued. The survivor, who was heading out with her mother to stage a protest near Mandi House against the verdict, added that she would challenge the High Court order in the Supreme Court. The Unnao rape case and other connected cases were transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi on the directions of the Supreme Court in August 2019.
After the police refused them permission to stage protest dharna at India Gate, the survivor and her mother met Congress’s Rahul Gandhi this evening, hours after the elderly woman was manhandled by the Central paramilitary personnel. The meeting took place at the 10 Janpath Road residence of Sonia Gandhi, a day after Rahul Gandhi returned from his visit to Germany. Sonia Gandhi was also present at the meeting, which went on for over an hour. Sources said Rahul Gandhi has given her the assurance that the case will be escalated, justice will be delivered. They will extend all possible help to the family.
The survivor and her mother have been protesting against the Delhi High Court’s relief to Sengar, who has challenged his conviction in the rape case. He will be out of jail till court reaches a decision on his appeal. The paramilitary personnel had not allowed the girl and her mother to address the media and also forced the elderly woman to jump off a moving bus.
The High Court’s decision has generated massive controversy, with the Opposition vehemently criticising the Centre. Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday responded to the Unnao rape survivor being forcefully carried away from the India Gate site where they were staging protest dharna. Rahul questioned the “treatment” of the rape survivor, while asking whether it was her “fault” that she was fighting for justice. “Is such treatment of a gang rape survivor appropriate? Is her “fault” that she has the courage to raise her voice for justice?” Rahul said in a post on X.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said the victim was being “repeatedly harassed” and “is living under the shadow of fear.” “Bail for rapists, and treating survivors like criminals—what kind of justice is this? We are not just becoming a dead economy—with such inhuman incidents, we are also turning into a dead society,” Rahul added.
At the meeting with Gandhi, she said she has full faith in the Supreme Court. The survivor has also appealed to the Prime Minister and expressed her wish to meet him.
The family had three key requests to Gandhi: A top lawyer to fight against Sengar in the Supreme Court; relocation to a Congress-ruled state as they fear being murdered; and a job for the woman’s husband. Gandhi has agreed to help on all points.
Shocking scenes played out on the roads of the national capital as paramilitary personnel blocked the Unnao rape survivor and her mother from addressing the media and also forced the elderly mother to jump off a moving bus. After the court’s decision, the woman – who was sexually assaulted by Sengar in 2017 – was protesting at India Gate with her mother and lawyer-activist Yogita Bhayana but got detained. This morning, the mother and daughter planned to address the media at Mandi House and the CRPF came to transport them in a bus. The vehicle, however, did not stop at Mandi House — the CRPF later said they did not receive permission to protest.
When the bus drove past Mandi house and the elderly woman wanted to deboard, she was asked to jump out. Visuals from the bus showed the survivor’s mother standing at the gate of the moving bus when the CRPF personnel elbowed her. After being pushed several times, the woman jumped off the moving bus, which drove away with her daughter still inside. Shockingly, there were no women CRPF personnel in the bus, even though it was transporting the survivor and her mother.
“We did not get justice. My daughter has been held captive. It seems they want to kill us. CRPF men took the girl and dropped me on the road. We will give up our lives. We were going to protest, but the CRPF men forcibly took her away. We were going to Mandi House to protest,” she told the media.
The survivor, then 17, had been raped in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao in June 2017. The name of BJP MLA Sengar came up. He was expelled from the party. In 2019, he was convicted of raping a minor. He was also found guilty in connection with the custodial death of the survivor’s father, who was initially framed in the sexual assault case.
After meeting Gandhis, the survivor said she had appealed to the Prime Minister and the President for a meeting but received no response. She said it was Rahul Gandhi who personally called her and assured her of justice. Expressing her anguish, the survivor said fear now prevails among daughters of the country, with a growing belief that perpetrators of rape can walk free.
