Unnao survivor’s father could have been thrashed in custody: SIT finds

BJP MLA from Unnao Kuldip Singh Sengar speaks to the media | PTI

The SIT findings say police botched up case to save BJP MLA’s brother, SIT to question legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar in a day or two.

Unnao: The father of the Unnao teenager, who accused Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar of rape, could have been thrashed in custody,the SIT has found. The SIT report is due to be released Wednesday.

Earlier in the month, her father was allegedly attacked by the MLA’s brother Atul and their associates to force the family to withdraw their complaint. The ensuing brawl spawned two police complaints, one by the teen’s family and the second by the alleged assaulters. However, while the father was arrested, the brother was reportedly not even booked.

When the teen’s father was first taken to the district hospital at 7.30 pm on 3 April, he reportedly had seven visible injuries on his body. He was deemed as fit and was sent to judicial custody.

Two days later, the number of injuries rose to 18, the SIT report says, adding that the UP police “acted under duress to save him (MLA’s brother)”.

“It is sheer negligence on part of the police. Though the police earlier maintained that Atul Singh was not on the spot when the teen’s father was thrashed, we found that the police acted under duress to save him,” ADG law and order Anand Kumar, who is supervising the case, told ThePrint.

“Instead of registering a case against him, they omitted his name from the FIR and lodged an FIR against the teenager’s father,” he added.

Sources said that while the teen’s father was in custody, a few of the MLA’s men went inside the jail and he was beaten up in custody before jail staff.

“It could be possible that he was beaten up in custody, otherwise how did the injuries increase,” Kumar said.

“Also, when the doctor could see that he was in a bad condition, why did he discharge him, calling the injuries ‘simple in nature’,” the ADG asked.

The SIT will also probe the role of jail staff and the doctors in the matter. “Once the matter is clear, more suspensions will follow,” Kumar said.

MLA to be called in for questioning

Amid the growing demand for the BJP MLA’s arrest, the SIT will be questioning him in connection with the case in the next two days.

The SIT also accessed the past criminal record of the MLA and found his involvement in a series of brawls, extortion cases.

“He will definitely be summoned by the SIT for questioning since there are allegations against him and legal action will be initiated once the preliminary inquiry is done,” Kumar said. “He will not be spared just because he is an MLA from the ruling party.”

Two brothers of the MLA — Atul Singh and Manoj Singh — were also found to be involved in criminal cases.

“Atul Singh once shot at a superintendent of police but later managed to reach a compromise as he used his political clout to get out of the case,” a police officer said.

“He has several other cases of drunken brawl and eve-teasing, registered against him. Mahesh too has cases under Arms Act registered against him,” the officer added.

SIT probing inconsistencies in teen’s statements

The police have found several inconsistencies in the statement of the 16-year-old survivor which are being looked into.

While in one application she said that she was abducted by Sengar’s men, including a man named Shubham (who was later arrested) on 11 June, the call detail records show that she was in touch with him over the phone for the past week and had exchanged several friendly messages.

“She has given several versions of the same episode, the dates do not match and there are several complaints and applications that have been given,” Kumar said. “We are going through all the complaints to ascertain the right sequence of events.”