The Delhi High Court on Friday modified its interim bail order to the Unnao rape case convict and expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar after the complainant expressed fear for her safety, PTI reported.
Sengar was convicted and sentenced to life for raping a woman in 2017. She was a minor when assaulted.
On January 16, the court had granted interim bail to Sengar for two weeks – from January 27 to February 10 – on account of his daughter’s wedding.
However, on Friday, a division bench led by Justice Mukta Gupta modified the bail conditions and asked Sengar to surrender before jail authorities on February 1. The court also ordered Sengar to be released again on February 6 for four days, The Indian Express reported.
The court passed the order on a plea filed by the complainant in the case. She had challenged the 15-day interim bail granted to Sengar, arguing that it could endanger her and her family.
Advocate Mehmood Pracha, representing the woman, told the court that Sengar is a very “influential person” and was able to “orchestrate the death” of the victim’s father when he was in jail, according to PTI.
The woman’s father was arrested in an illegal arms case in April 2018. It was later found that he had been framed in the case. He died in judicial custody in Unnao on April 9, 2018, a day after his daughter attempted to kill herself outside Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath’s house as no action had been taken against Sengar till then.
In July 2019, the woman and her lawyer were severely injured in a car crash. Her family had alleged Sengar was behind the accident. Two of the woman’s relatives, one of whom was a witness in the rape case, were killed in the accident.
“If Kuldeep Sengar is granted bail, I and the witnesses will be in danger,” the woman told the court, reported PTI. “All the government officials there are his appointees. I request not to release him or else he can get me killed.”
Pracha also told the court while people are usually released from jail in the evening, Senegal was released early on Friday morning. This, he alleged, shows his clout.
Advocate Pramod Dubey, appearing for Sengar, opposed the woman’s plea saying the court has imposed sufficient conditions on his client, reported PTI. He argued the court may direct Sengar to stay in his house instead of reducing the bail period.
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