A Delhi court awarded life imprisonment, till the remainder of life, to expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar on Friday for raping a woman in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, in 2017.
District Judge Dharmesh Sharma, who had reserved the verdict on quantum of sentence in the forenoon, also imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh in the case.
The CBI had sought maximum punishment for Sengar, saying it was a fight for justice of an individual against the system. It also sought adequate monetary compensation for the rape survivor.
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The court said Sengar was a public servant but he betrayed people’s faith. "Entire conduct of Sengar was to intimidate the rape survivor," the court said.
Besides, the court directed the CBI to continue assessing threat perception to the life and security of the survivor and her family members every three months.
It said they will continue to reside in rented accommodation made available by Delhi Commission for Women for one more year and directed the UP government to pay Rs 15,000 per month for the rent.
The court had on December 16 convicted Sengar for rape under the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act for offence by a public servant committing penetrative sexual assault against a child. The rape survivor was a minor when she was assaulted. The court had adjourned till December 20 the hearing on order for the quantum of sentence against expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar.
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The apex court had taken cognisance of the rape survivor's letter written to the former Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, and transferred all five cases registered in connection with the Unnao rape incident from a Lucknow court in Uttar Pradesh to the court in Delhi with directions to hold trial on daily basis and completing it within 45-days.
The judge heard the case on a day-to-day basis from August 5.
On July 28 this year, the car of the survivor was hit by a truck and she was severely injured. The woman's two aunts were killed in the accident and her family had alleged foul play.
Her father was allegedly framed in an illegal arms case and arrested on April 3, 2018. He died while in judicial custody a few days later, on April 9. The local court in Delhi had framed murder and other charges against the MLA, his brother Atul and nine others in the case.
(With PTI Inputs)
