Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 26: Even as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is making moves to challenge the Delhi High Court’s order in the 2017 Unnao rape case, scores of protesters and women activists including the rape survivor’s mother, demonstrated outside the Delhi High Court on Friday in protest against the suspension of the life imprisonment sentence of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Senger and releasing him on bail.
The protesters, holding placards, raised slogans such as “Balatkariyo ko sanrakshan dena band karo” (stop protecting rapists) in support of the Unnao rape survivor. Women activists from the All India Democratic Women’s Association participated in the protest along with activist Yogita Bhayana and the survivor’s mother.
A CBI spokesman said the agency would immediately challenge the suspension of life sentence and bail to Senger in the Unnao rape case in the Supreme Court. The decision was taken after studying the orders of the division bench of the Delhi High Court.
It was decided to file an SLP before the Supreme Court at the earliest against the orders of the High Court, which granted bail to Senger after suspending his life sentence, the CBI spokesperson said. Senger, however, will remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year jail term of custodial death of the rape survivor’s father. Senger had filed an appeal against his life sentence, which was vehemently opposed by the CBI and the family of the victim before the High Court.
“The CBI filed timely replies and written arguments in this matter. The family of the victim has also opposed the petition, citing safety and threats. The CBI will immediately challenge this order,” the statement said. On Tuesday (December 23, 2025), the Delhi High Court suspended the jail term of expelled BJP leader Senger, who was serving life imprisonment in the 2017 Unnao rape case, saying he has already served seven years and five months in prison.
The survivor’s mother said she had come to the high court to protest as her daughter had endured immense suffering. “I am not blaming the entire high court, but only the two judges whose decision has shattered our trust,” she said. The mother added that earlier judges had delivered justice to the family, but the accused had now been granted bail.
The protests come amid grave concerns expressed by the Unnao rape survivor and her family over the suspension of Senger’s jail term. Reacting to the court order, the survivor said, “I am extremely upset by what has happened today in the court.” She also said she felt “extremely unsafe” after learning about the bail conditions granted to Senger.
Visuals showed security personnel asking protesters to end the demonstration immediately, warning that legal action would be taken if they did not disperse within five minutes. Women’s rights activist Yogita Bhayana, who was present at the protest, said, “Women across India are deeply hurt that the sentence of a rapist has been overturned. This happened in this very court. So, we will seek justice from the same place where the injustice occurred,” she said.
Kuldeep Senger was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2019 for the rape of a 17-year-old girl in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh in 2017. On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court suspended his life sentence, noting that he had already served more than the maximum punishment prescribed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The court’s decision triggered fresh fears within the survivor’s family, despite the order barring Senger from coming within a five-kilometre radius of her. Now 24, the survivor is a resident of Delhi. Following the grant of conditional bail to Senger, she has been provided court-ordered protection and is accompanied by five to 11 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel at all times. However, her mother has said security cover provided to her and her three children until March this year was subsequently withdrawn.
The High Court order has also snowballed into a massive political slugfest with Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi questioning the move of the police to use force against the protesters. “Is such treatment of a gang-rape survivor appropriate? Is it her ‘fault’ that she gathered courage to raise her voice for justice? “The fact that her perpetrator (former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Senger) has been granted bail is extremely disappointing and shameful — especially when the survivor is being repeatedly harassed and is living under the shadow of fear,” the former Congress chief said in a post in Hindi on X.
The survivor had also urged the national leaders to intervene to get the bail granted to Senger revoked. “I want to request all the leaders to stop his bail. If in five years, he can be given bail, what hope do women in the country have,” she said. The survivor said she had requested meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah as well.
On Tuesday evening, the survivor and her family members were forcibly removed by security personnel while protesting against the court order near India Gate. In a video that has since gone viral on social media, the survivor is seen being dragged and lifted by at least four women Delhi police officers. As she screamed to be released and allowed to speak to the press, the officers shoved her inside a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vehicle and drove her away from the site.
Her mother said they were stopped again while they were on their way to meet their lawyer on Wednesday. She alleged that CRPF personnel took them on a vehicle. While she was asked to get off midway, she suspected that the security personnel would take her daughter to Ghitorni. “My daughter was taken in a vehicle against her wishes because they did not want us to meet our lawyer, but she (rape survivor) later heard that some senior officer instructed them to let her meet her legal counsel,” the mother said.