Centre moves SC to end CRPF security to Unnao rape survivor, court seeks her reply
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has asked for responses from the Unnao rape survivor of 2017 and her family regarding the government’s request to remove their CRPF security protection, which was mandated by the court in 2019. Expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar is serving a life term for kidnapping and raping a minor girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao area in 2017.
In 2019, considering the high-profile nature of the case and the potential dangers to those involved, the Supreme Court ordered CRPF security for the survivor, her mother, other family members, and their lawyer.
Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma instructed that the government’s application be delivered to the victim and her family. The court also indicated that, given the apparent lack of current threat, they are inclined to conclude the case.
The Centre’s counsel said no security cover is needed according to the threat analysis of the victim and her family members.
Advocate Ruchira Goel, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, submitted that everything, including the trial, was transferred to Delhi after the incident following the apex court’s order.
The bench asked Goel where the victim resides at present. She replied that the woman and her family stay in Delhi.
On May 14, the top court had asked the Centre to file a separate application seeking withdrawal of CRPF security cover provided to the survivor, her family members and their lawyers.
The Centre submitted that the security cover may be provided by either the Delhi or Uttar Pradesh police and the CRPF be permitted to withdraw.
In 2019, the top court transferred all five cases registered in connection with the Unnao rape incident from a Lucknow court to a court in Delhi with the direction to hold trial on daily basis and complete it within 45 days.
The Supreme Court also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to provide Rs 25 lakh as interim compensation to the rape survivor.
The court had added that the CBI will have to complete within seven days the investigation into the accident in which the survivor and her lawyer were critically injured and two of her aunts killed.
Her father was arrested at the behest of Sengar in a case under the Arms Act and died in custody on April 9, 2018.
Sengar has sought the quashing of the trial court’s December 2019 judgment that has sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his life. His appeal is pending in the Delhi High Court.
On March 13, 2020, Sengar was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in the case of death of the woman’s father in custody. He was also slapped with a fine of Rs 10 lakh. The court had awarded a 10-year jail term to Sengar’s brother Atul Singh Sengar and five others in the case.with agency inputs
