UP Asks Centre to Transfer Unnao Rape Survivor’s Accident Case to CBI

The UP government's move should placate the Opposition which has been gunning for the BJP government in the state and demanding a CBI probe. 

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday sent a formal request to Government of India to transfer the Unnao rape survivor’s road accident case to the CBI. (Also read: ‘It Was Not Accident But Conspiracy,’ Says Rape Survivor’s Mother)

This should placate the Opposition which has been gunning for the BJP government in the state and demanding a CBI probe. Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi questioned the state government’s audacity to run a ‘fear-free Uttar Pradesh’ campaign.

“Why is the BJP MLA still in the BJP? Why the lack in security to the victim and witnesses? Is it possible to get justice from BJP government without answers of these questions?” she said.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said that the BJP should focus on what’s happening in UP instead of defaming the Bengal government. “What happened in Unnao, two relatives of victim died & she is in serious condition. There should be a high power inquiry,” she said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also raised the issue in the Parliament and alleged that it could be a conspiracy to murder the woman who had accused Sengar of raping her in 2017. He also sought a CBI probe.

The rape survivor is now battling for life at the Trauma Centre of King George’s Medical University here. “Lady (rape survivor) and lawyer both are on ventilator and in critical but stable condition. The girl has a fracture on her leg and a head injury,” Sandeep Tiwari, Media in-Charge, Trauma Center, King George’s Medical University hospital said.

The young woman, her paternal and maternal aunts along with their advocate were on their way to meet her uncle, who is lodged in Rae Bareli jail, when the car in which they were travelling in collided with a truck near Rae Bareli district. An initial probe revealed that the number plate of the empty truck that hit the car was scrubbed and blackened.

An FIR has been registered against BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, his brother Manoj Singh Sengar and 8 others (Vinod Mishra, Haripal Singh, Naveen Singh, Komal Singh, Arun Singh, Gyandendra Singh, Rinku Singh, Awadhesh Singh) in connection with the accident on Sunday. The BJP MLA, who is in jail, has been booked afresh on an attempt to murder charge.

The FIR was registered on basis of the complaint given by the rape survivor’s uncle Mahesh Singh. It said that the cops, who were deployed for the security of the Unnao rape survivor, had informed the leader and his associates of the family’s movement on Sunday.

However, the Director-General of Police has denied security lapse in the case saying that seven security personnel were posted at victim’s home and three were there to accompany her.

The rape case dates back to 2017 when the girl had accused Sengar of raping her at his house. The incident came to light after she tried to set herself ablaze outside Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence on April 8, 2017, alleging inaction of the police.

Sengar, a four-time MLA who represents Bangermau in the UP Assembly, was arrested last year and has been in jail since.

Later, her father was picked up by the police and allegedly beaten up in custody by the MLA’s brother Atul Singh and his aides. Later, he succumbed to injuries in hospital. An FIR was lodged against Sengar on April 12, 2018 under sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (abduction of woman), 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and POCSO Act.