The Delhi High Court on Monday denied bail to former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the case related to the custodial death of the father of Unnao rape victim.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja said while Sengar has spent nearly seven-and-a-half years in custody out of the total punishment of 10 years, there has been a delay in deciding his appeal against conviction in the case. It was partly due to Sengar, who filed multiple applications. Hence, he was denied the plea for bail and suspension of sentence.
The Unnao rape survivor’s father was arrested at Sengar's behest and he died in custody on April 9, 2018, due to police brutality. Sengar and others were convicted over his death by a Delhi court in March 2020 and were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Notably, the High Court had in June 2024 rejected a similar plea by Sengar. The Court had then said when factors like the gravity of the offence, nature of the crime, criminal antecedents of the convict and impact on public confidence in the judiciary are considered, Sengar is not entitled to suspension of sentence.
The Unnao rape survivor, a minor, was allegedly kidnapped and raped by Sengar between June 11 and June 20, 2017. She was then sold for ₹60,000. The survivor was thereafter continuously threatened and warned by the police officials against speaking out, as instructed by Sengar. The case took a controversial turn after a lorry without a number plate rammed into the car in which the victim was travelling. The victim and her lawyer were critically injured while two of her aunts passed away.
In August 2019, the Supreme Court transferred the trial in four cases relating to the Unnao rape case to Delhi and ordered that the same be held on a day-to-day basis and completed within 45 days. Sengar was convicted in December 2019 for the rape of the minor victim as well as for the custodial death of the victim’s father. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the rape case and sent to jail for 10 years in the custodial death case. Recently, the Delhi High Court granted Sengar bail in the rape case. However, the order was stayed by the Supreme Court after the CBI filed an appeal.
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