Expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar Gets Life In Jail In Unnao Rape Case

Expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar has been sentenced to jail for "remainder of his natural biological life" for raping a woman in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, in 2017.

"This court does not find any mitigating circumstance. Sengar was public servant and betrayed people's faith," District Judge Dharmesh Sharma said, turning down the plea for lenient approach in sentencing him. The conduct of 53-year-old Sengar was to intimidate the rape survivor, it said.

"The convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar is hereby sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of his natural biological life in terms of Section 376 (2) Indian Penal Code," the court said.

Kuldeep Sengar has been also ordered to deposit Rs 25 lakh within a month; Rs 10 lakh of which will be paid as compensation to the rape survivor. Failure to deposit the amount, the court warned, will lead to seizure of property to ensure compensation is provided to the family.

The court has directed the CBI to continue assessing threat perception of the survivor and her family members every three months and directed the family continue to reside in rented accommodation made available by Delhi Commission for Women for one more year. The rent of the accomodation will be paid by the UP government, it said.

The court had on Monday convicted Kuldeep Sengar for rape under the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act. The co-accused Shashi Singh, who allegedly took the minor to Sengar, has been acquitted on "benefit of the doubt".

In the long-awaited verdict to the case -- that shocked the nation and included an alleged assassination attempt reportedly orchestrated by Kuldeep Sengar while he was behind bars -- the judge praised the rape survivor for "fighting against a powerful person" and slammed the foisting of false cases against her family. The judge also questioned the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over delays in filing a chargesheet.

The case was being heard on a day-to-day basis at Delhi's Tis Hazari court since August 5 after it was transferred to Delhi from a Lucknow court on the Supreme Court's directions.

Kuldeep Sengar, a four-time BJP MLA from Bangermau in Unnao district, was expelled from the party in August 2019. Apart from the rape case, he is being tried in four other cases -- framing of the rape survivor's father in illegal firearms case, his death in judicial custody, conspiracy of Sengar with others in the accident case and the separate gang rape case of the survivor by three others.

With inputs from PTI