The UP home secretary said the state police would continue the probe until the CBI took up the case, adding that the investigation agency would take a call on Sengar’s arrest.
New Delhi: BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, was booked Thursday for rape, with police also invoking the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the FIR.
The case will now be handed over to the CBI.
Uttar Pradesh home secretary Arvind Kumar confirmed the FIR at a press conference with director general of police O.P. Singh. “We…are handing over the probe to the CBI for further action. The reference to CBI will be sent today,” Singh said.
However, Kumar clarified that the state police would continue the investigation until the CBI took up the case. He added that the CBI would take a decision on whether to arrest Sengar. “We are not defending anyone. Since the case will now be given to the CBI, they will decide on the arrest,” he said.
Police have recorded the statements of both the MLA as well as the victim. “The rape survivor said she did not name the MLA earlier because she was scared,” Kumar said.
The victim’s family will now be given a security cover.
Family expects quick arrests
The FIR has been registered on a complaint filed by the teenager’s mother, and names as accused Sengar and Shashi Singh, a girl identified as an acquaintance of the victim who allegedly took her to the MLA’s house on the day of the alleged rape.
“It was on the night of 4 June 2017 that one Shashi Singh took the daughter of the complainant to the house of MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar,” states the FIR.
“Sengar… took her to a room and raped her. When the girl resisted, he threatened to eliminate her entire family and dump their bodies,” it adds.
According to the FIR, Shashi was present outside the room, in the verandah, while the teenager was being raped.
“Following the incident, the victim and her family gave several complaints in this regard but a case was not registered,” it says.
The teen’s uncle said they were happy the government was “finally taking action in the case”. “We now expect quick arrests and a fair probe in the matter. Had the authorities taken action earlier, my brother would have been alive,” he said.
His brother, the alleged victim’s father, died this week, succumbing to injuries allegedly sustained in an assault by the MLA’s brother Atul and their associates on 3 April. The attack was reportedly a bid to scare the family to withdraw the complaint.
Two complaints were filed in the aftermath, one against the teenager’s family and the other against the suspected assailants. However, while the father was booked and arrested, Atul wasn’t.
Doctors suspended
Questions have been raised about the subsequent conduct of the staff at the Unnao district hospital, where the father was taken for treatment after the alleged assault. As ThePrint reported earlier this week, despite several visible injuries, the doctors there administered simple first aid and ruled the father fit for custody.
As a result, two doctors — chief medical officer and chief medical superintendent D.K. Dwivedi and emergency medical officer (EMO) Dr Prashant Upadhyay — have been suspended for laxity in giving proper medical care and treatment to the father, both before he was sent in judicial custody and later, when brought to the hospital on the jail’s referral. Disciplinary proceedings have also been initiated against three others, orthopaedic surgeon Manoj Kumar, surgeon G P Sachan, and EMO Gaurav Agrawal.
Meanwhile, a separate inquiry report has been submitted by deputy inspector general (prisons) Love Kumar on the role of the Unnao jail administration while the teen’s father was in custody.