The victim’s father died Monday at a hospital, allegedly of injuries sustained in an assault by MLA Kuldip Singh Senger’s brother Atul and their aides on 3 April in Unnao.
New Delhi: A day before her son died in custody, the grandmother of the alleged Unnao rape victim had written to the UP chief minister’s office (CMO), expressing fears her son might be murdered by the accused and demanding strict action against them.
The case revolves around the alleged rape of a teenager, believed to be 17 to 18 years old, by BJP MLA Kuldip Singh Senger in June last year. It came to light after the girl, alleging police inaction, threatened self-immolation outside UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence in Lucknow over the weekend.
Her father was allegedly attacked by Sengar’s brother Atul and his aides on 3 April to force the family to withdraw their rape complaint, which reportedly triggered a brawl. Both sides subsequently filed police complaints, which led to the father’s arrest. However, despite the complaint against him, Atul was reportedly not booked at the time.
The teenager’s father died Monday at an Unnao district hospital, allegedly of injuries sustained in the brawl.
The Uttar Pradesh police arrested Atul for the alleged assault Tuesday, and set up a special investigation team (SIT) to look into the father’s death. The SIT probe is apart from the judicial investigation ordered into the incident.
‘Tied to a tree, thrashed’
The grandmother’s letter was reportedly sent to the CMO Sunday. In it, she pointed out how, despite his injuries, her son was kept in jail before finally being shifted to hospital Sunday.
“To force us to withdraw the rape complaint, Kuldeep Singh and his aides implicated my son and daughter-in-law in several false cases,” she wrote in Hindi.
“When we refused to succumb to their threats, Kuldeep Singh’s brother and his associates barged into my house with arms and attacked my son… It was 6 pm on 3 April when the men entered our house threatening to kill us. They tied my son to a tree and thrashed him mercilessly,” she added.
“I request the lawmakers… to take strict action against the men as I believe Senger’s men might eliminate my family.”
UP police officers said they did not know about the letter. “We are looking into the matter and will soon release a statement,” UP police public relations officer Rahul Srivastava said.
According to a PTI report, even the alleged rape victim has said her father was killed in jail at the behest of the lawmaker.