Plea in Supreme Court seeks CBI probe into Unnao gangrape, death of victim's father in police custody

New Delhi: A plea was moved in the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the gangrape of a woman in Uttar Pradesh allegedly by a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and his associates and the death of her father in police custody on Monday. The petition filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma alleged that the rape victim’s father was tortured and killed in police custody at the behest of the “ruling party”. [caption id=“attachment_4424463” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Supreme Court. Reuters[/caption] Sharma, in his PIL, has sought a direction to the CBI for probe and prosecution under various provisions of the IPC against the alleged kidnapping and rape of the woman in July last year “by the BJP MLA and his companion and custodial death of her father via torture” on 9 April. Alleging that the complaint had not mentioned the name of the legislator “under political pressure” and the state police would not carry out a “fair investigation under compulsion”, it said in these circumstances, the matter should be handed over to the CBI for an independent investigation. The petition also alleged that according to the statement of the victim, the sitting BJP MLA from Bangarmau constituency in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Kuldeep Singh Sengar, was the main accused of her rape in July last year and the custodial death of her father after her protest against the legislator. It said that the legislator’s men had also attacked her father on 3 April and were continuously harassing them. The plea said that on 8 April, the victim, accompanied by four women of her family, had staged a protest against police inaction against the MLA and attempted self-immolation outside the residence of chief minister Yogi Adityanath. It said the district hospital of Unnao had issued a statement that the victim’s father had died on 9 April. The PIL also sought compensation as provided in the Nirbhaya gangrape case and protection to the rape victim.