Not just dead economy, we're turning into dead society too: Rahul on rape victim's ill-treatment

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said India is not just becoming a dead economy but also a dead society after alleged ill-treatment of the Unnao rape survivor.

Gandhi said the rape survivor, who was protesting in Delhi against the bail granted to accused Kuldeep Singh Sengar by the high court, should be treated with respect and that justice should be ensured to her, instead of giving her injustice and fear.

"Is such treatment of a gang rape survivor appropriate? Is it her 'fault' that she has the courage to raise her voice for justice?

"The fact that her perpetrator (former BJP MLA Sengar) has been granted bail is extremely disappointing and shameful -- especially when the survivor is being repeatedly harassed and is living under the shadow of fear," the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said in a post in Hindi on X.

"Bail for rapists and treating survivors like criminals -- what kind of justice is this? We are not just becoming a dead economy -- with such inhuman incidents, we are also turning into a dead society," he said.

Gandhi added that in a democracy, raising a voice of dissent is a right and suppressing it is a crime.

"The survivor deserves respect, safety and justice -- not helplessness, fear and injustice," he asserted.

The 2017 Unnao rape survivor on Wednesday termed the Delhi High Court's decision to suspend the jail term of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sengar "kaal (death)" for her family and said she would move the Supreme Court against the order.

The rape survivor and her mother staged a protest near Mandi House here against the verdict granting bail to Sengar.

In its order, the high court directed that Sengar shall not come within a five-kilometre radius of the victim's residence and threaten the survivor or her mother. It also said a violation of the conditions would automatically lead to the cancellation of the bail.

Sengar, however, will remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year term in connection with the custodial death of the rape survivor's father and has not been granted bail in that case.

The survivor was a minor when she was allegedly kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017.