BJP Lawmaker Charged With Rape, Days After Unnao Teen's Suicide Attempt

Lucknow: Hours after he made a dramatic appearance outside the house of a top police officer in state capital Lucknow, BJP lawmaker Kuldeep Singh Sengar has been charged with raping a 16-year-old girl from Uttar Pradesh's Unnao. Last night, the Yogi Adityanath government ordered the police to file a case against the ruling party lawmaker and hand over all cases related to it to the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI.

Kuldeep Singh Sengar, 50, has also been charged under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

The decision to ask the CBI to step in was taken after a special investigation team, set up by the state government, found serious lapses not just by the police but also doctors in Unnao. The government has ordered security cover to the family of the rape survivor.

The girl, who had been trying to get the police to act against the lawmaker since June last year, appeared to give up hopes on Sunday and reached Yogi Adityanath's residence to commit suicide. The girl alleged that her 55-year-old father was thrashed by the lawmaker's brother Atul Singh and arrested by the police because he was still trying to pursue the case.

The father, brought to the hospital from jail, died on Monday, triggering massive outrage against the way the police had tried to shield the lawmaker's brother. Atul Singh was finally arrested on Tuesday after it emerged how the police had tried to protect him, keeping his name from the police complaint though the victim had named him too.

But Kuldeep Singh Sengar was as brazen as ever.

On Wednesday night, he turned up at the residence of Lucknow city's top cop in a convoy of 20 vehicles after reports that he could surrender.

"I have come here because TV channels were saying I will surrender," he appeared to taunt reporters, insisting that he was neither a fugitive nor a rapist.

"You have made me an accused in a rape case.... Am a BJP worker, I will reach where you want me to," he said before a scuffle broke out between the 100-odd supporters accompanying him and the journalists.

The midnight drama appeared to have prompted the Yogi Adityanath government to distance itself from the ruling party lawmaker and scramble to announce the CBI probe.

The special team, which travelled to Unnao about 50 km from state capital Lucknow, is learnt to have come across circumstantial evidence that appears to support some of the allegations levelled by the girl's family.

The investigation team headed by Additional Director General of Police (Lucknow zone) visited Makhi village from where the rape victim hailed and collected information to submit a report to the state government.

"The SIT team will probe all the aspects of the case and act accordingly. Security has been provided to the victim's family," Rajiv Krishna, who heads the team, had said.

A senior police officer, who familiar with the contents of the report, had earlier told NDTV that the report had made certain points that raised questions about the conduct of government officials in this case and promised "corrective steps".

The government ordered also suspended two senior doctors at Unnao district hospital Dr Prashant Upadhyay and Dr DK Dwivedi and ordered inquiries against three other doctors including the surgeons Dr Manoj Kumar and Dr GP Sachan for laxity in giving proper medical treatment. The doctors face charges of not giving proper treatment when the teenager's father was brought to the hospital, before being sent to jail and later, when he was referred to the district hospital by jail authorities.