The survivor who has alleged rape by former Makhi MP Kuldeep Singh Sengar has said that the witnesses in the case against her uncle Mahesh Singh are constantly being threatened and this poses a threat to her life as well.
In a written complaint to the chief minister of UP, one Kuldeep Singh who has pledged his land in support of the survivor’s uncle has said that the land that he had pledged has been taken over by the erstwhile MLA’s supporters and they have threatened that they will not return it.
In 2017, a young woman from the village of Makhi (Unnao) had alleged that the MLA of the area Kuldeep Singh Sengar had raped her and also that she had been subsequently kidnapped and gang raped by one Shubham Singh and his driver Naresh Tiwari. The case shot into prominence later when she attempted to immolate herself in April 2018 in front of the chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence in Lucknow. But it was not till July 2019, when the car in which the survivor was travelling with two family members and a lawyer met with a collision, that the case blew into prominence leading to the widespread condemnation and the subsequent arrest of Sengar. It is noteworthy that the courts have since exonerated Sengar of any role in the accident.
In December 2019, Sengar was convicted of rape. His conviction is still debated on the fact that the court failed to reach cell phone tower records accurately during the alleged rape.
In November 2018, the survivor’s uncle Mahesh Singh was arrested in an attempt to murder case. While in October 2019, he was acquitted in two other cases registered under Sections 394 and 411 of the Indian Penal Code. He is still serving a 10-year sentence in in the case of attempted murder. The charges he has been acquitted under include dishonesty in receiving stolen property and causing hurt and or attempt to robbery.
The Unnao rape survivor has claimed that her life is in danger as witnesses in the case of her uncle Mahesh Singh are being constantly threatened.
“People have shunned my family. No one wants to marry my elder sister and cousins. We have also been able to perform the funerary rites of my aunt (wife of Mahesh Singh). Our lives have come to a stop despite the support we have received so far,” she said.
The survivor told The Week, “The witnesses in my uncle’s case have been accosted by Sengar’s supporters and threatened that if they don’t withdraw their statements they will have to pay for their life”.
She said that she had written to the district magistrate and the Senior Superintendent of Police but received no help.
The survivor also alleged that she has been prevented from meeting media persons and others sympathetic to her cause. “I am always asked for the reason and appointment for such meetings. This hampers me from putting my case forward”.