Delhi High Court suspended Sengar’s life sentence in the 2017 Unnao rape case pending appeal.
Survivor alleged political motives behind the bail and said her family faces renewed threats.
Police removed the survivor and activists from the India Gate protest site.
The survivor of the 2017 Unnao rape case, along with her mother staged a protest at India Gate on Tuesday against the Delhi High Court’s decision to grant bail to former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar.
The protest came a day after the High Court suspended Sengar’s life sentence in the rape case, pending appeal. Sengar was convicted in December 2019 for raping a minor and was sentenced to life imprisonment. His appeal against the conviction is currently pending before the High Court. The protesting family was accompanied by women’s rights activist Yogita Bhayana.
Sitting at the India Gate, the survivor said the bail order had left her family terrified and shocked. “I heard the judgment and felt shattered. I even thought of killing myself, but stopped because of my family,” she said.
She questioned the timing of the bail and said it was politically motivated. Linking it to the the upcoming 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, she said: “Elections are coming. He has been released so that his wife can contest. If such a rape accused comes out, how will we be safe?” she asked.
The survivor also said her family was facing renewed threats after the bail order and demanded that it be cancelled. “Everyone has become unsafe. We will approach the Supreme Court. I still have faith in the judiciary,” she said.
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The Delhi Police removed the survivor, her mother, and Bhayana from the protest site. Visuals showed police personnel carrying them to a bus as they urged authorities to allow them to continue their demonstration.
Activist Yogita Bhayana questioned the grounds on which Sengar was granted bail. She said that the the survivor’s family had been left alone to fight a powerful accused. “Their entire family was destroyed while fighting for justice. How can such an accused be released on bail? We had seen how they fought and got the justice at that time. What happened now? When so many innocent people are lying in jails how was he granted bail?” she said, alleging that the family was under threat.
The survivor’s sister also opposed the bail order, saying unidentified men had been seen roaming near their house. “He killed my uncle and then my father. Now he is out on bail and we are still in danger. If they have released him, they should put us in jail instead, at least we would be alive,” she said.
According to the court order, the division bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar suspended Sengar’s sentence on the condition that he furnish a bail bond of ₹15 lakh.
However, Sengar will remain in prison as he has not been granted bail in the custodial death case of the survivor’s father, in which he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. Unnao rape case and related matters were transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi in 2019 on the directions of the Supreme Court, citing concerns over the safety of the survivor and witnesses.
