Lucknow: Lawmaker and rape convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s membership to the UP Assembly has been formally cancelled after he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Unnao case by a Delhi court.
As per a notification issued by Principal Secretary Vidhan Sabha Pradeep Kumar Dubey, Sengar’s membership will be considered over from the day of the announcement of his life sentence (December 20, 2019). The Bangarmau assembly seat will now be considered vacant.
Sengar, a former BJP member, had won the assembly polls in 2017. He was expelled from the party after allegations were levelled against him on August 1 last year. Following his conviction in the Unnao rape case in December last year, a Delhi court had sentenced Sengar to life imprisonment.
District Judge Dharmesh Sharma had imposed an exemplary fine of Rs 25 lakh in the case that had to be paid within a month, while the rape survivor had to be paid an additional Rs 10 lakh as compensation. The court had convicted Sengar for rape under the sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for an offence by a public servant committing penetrative sexual assault against a child after holding the victim to be a minor.
The incident took place in 2017 when the minor woman was kidnapped and raped by Sengar. The complaint in the matter, however, was registered only after she attempted to immolate herself outside Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's official residence in Lucknow.
She took the extreme step after her father was allegedly thrashed by Sengar's brother, Atul Sengar, and taken to jail instead of the hospital where two days later he succumbed to injuries in police custody. The matter came to light after a video clip showing Atul Sengar beating the minor’s father went viral on social media.
Amidst public outrage, the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and both the Sengars, along with their two acquaintances, were arrested. On July 28 last year, the survivor was severely injured after the car in which she was travelling was hit by a truck. In the accident, two of her aunts were killed and she and her lawyer were critically injured. The family alleged foul play in the accident.
The Supreme Court, taking cognizance of the survivor's letter written to then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, had on August 1 transferred all five cases registered in connection with the incident from a Lucknow court to a court in the national capital with directions to hold trial on a daily basis and complete it within 45 days.
The court had, on August 9, framed charges against the Sengar and Shashi Singh under Sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping or inducing a woman to compel for marriage), 376 (rape) of the IPC and other relevant sections of the POCSO Act.
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