Unnao Rape Case: MLA Kuldeep Sengar In CBI Custody

After the UP government transferred the Unnao rape case to the CBI, the BJP MLA involved in the case, Kuldeep Singh Sengar, has finally been arrested. CBI has taken Sengar in custody for seven days. The arrest took place on the weekend.

The court has asserted that it will monitor the probe so the investigators don’t come under any political pressure.

ALSO READ: Is Political Inclination Weakening Our Fight to Counter Rape Culture?

Around the same time that the HC condemned the state police and government on this crime, a special court gave permission to the CBI to arrest the legislator. And CBI has assured that it will find other suspects in this case as well.

According to rules, the police have to take a rape survivor for a medical check-up. But in this case, when the 17-year-old first went to the police to lodge her complaint, they did not comply. They beat her family up and sent them back.

She, along with her family, kept prompting the police several times over the course of nine months without success. It was only last month when she tried to burn herself down along with her kin in front of the residence of CM Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow that the police rescued her and took them to a police station. There also, they tried to burn themselves.

However, media reports claims that the police thrashed her father and he died a few days later because of the assault.

In the high court hearing, the state's top law official was asked if due procedure was followed in the case. He insisted that there was not enough evidence to arrest the MLA. Also, the police lodged the case only after the state government transferred it to the CBI. These two instances show that there is  solid machinery in place to shield the lawmaker.

"We specifically asked learned Advocate General as to whether such procedure is being followed by the Investigating Agency in the State of Uttar Pradesh in all such cases, he could not reply our query," the two-judge bench said, NDTV reported.

With Sengar in custody, here's hoping that the rape survivor gets justice.

Picture credit- ANI

More Stories by Poorvi Gupta