Unnao rape survivor alleges harassment by security officer; Delhi court rules out foul play in 2019 car accident

The Unnao rape survivor has moved a Delhi court alleging harassment by the personal security officers (PSOs) deputed on the directions of the Supreme Court for her protection. District and Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma has directed the investigating officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to submit an impact assessment report in this regard with the assistance of the local police. “Application has been moved on the behalf of the complainant that she and her family members were harassed by the PSOs who are deputed as per the direction of the Supreme Court, in a sense that they are not allowing her to enjoy her liberties,” the judge said on July 31 through video-conferencing. He further said that a sealed envelope was also received from the police in which certain allegations were levelled against the complainant and her family members. “It is directed that this application be taken up for consideration,” the sessions judge added. This development comes close on the heels of another separate but related development, wherein a Delhi Court upheld rhe CBI’s findings that a deadly road crash that the survivor was involved in was purely accidental. In 2019, the rape survivor, her family, and lawyer were travelling in a car when it was hit by an overspeeding truck in Rae Bareli, killing two of her relatives and leaving her and the advocate critically injured. Pursuant to this, a murder case was filed against expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was also awarded life-term imprisonment for raping the minor survivor, and nine others after her family filed a complaint alleging a “conspiracy” behind the accident. Dismissing these allegations, District and Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma held that the objections of the complainant party read like an engrossing thrilling story but were based on mere surmises and conjectures. He further said that there are no grounds to suspect the fidelity, accuracy, and sincerity of the investigation conducted by the CBI and that the agency came out with a plausible version of the incident. Notably, the investigating agency had concluded that there was no evidence regarding criminal conspiracy hatched between those named in the FIR, including Kuldeep Sengar, and the truck driver or the cleaner or for that matter owner of the offending truck. Upholding the probe, the judge stated in an order dated 31 July, “I have no hesitation in holding the findings of the CBI in the chargesheet, that there is no case against the accused persons so as to take cognisance and proceed against them under Section 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) read with Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), cannot be faulted.” The sessions judge, however, framed charges against the truck driver for causing death by negligence and doing an act to endanger human life, besides framing charges of criminal intimidation against Sengar and his associates. Besides this, on 20 December, 2019, Sengar was sentenced to jail for the “remainder of his natural biological life” in a separate case for raping the minor in 2017. On 4 March, 2020, Sengar, his brother, and five others were also convicted for the death of the rape survivor’s father in judicial custody and were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. With inputs from PTI