The Unnao rape survivor been in hospital since a car crash in July.
The teen who was raped allegedly by expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar faces the "highest level of threat", the CBI said on Wednesday to a special court, which then ordered the UP government to report on how she and her family can be relocated within the state or to one of its neighbours. The girl has been in hospital since a car crash in July, which is being investigated after the family alleged that it was a plan to kill her.
The survivor and her family are under "Category A threat perception" in the witness protection scheme, the CBI told the court in Delhi. The girl should be given adequate protection, said the investigating agency. Judge Dharmesh Sharma issued notice to the UP government to file a report within a week on steps that can be taken to shift the rape survivor, her mother, two sisters and brother to a safe place.
The teen, critically wounded when a truck rammed the car she was travelling in on a road near Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh on July 28, is in Delhi's AIIMS hospital. Two of her aunts died in the crash caused by the truck, which had a blackened number plate.
A judge went to the hospital earlier this month for her testimony; a "courtroom" was set up at the hospital and the accused politician, Kuldeep Sengar was also brought there. A curtain separated the two during the teen's statement.
The CBI has been asked by the court to investigate the crash.
On August 1, the Supreme Court shifted the five cases connected with the Unnao case to Delhi, assigned a judge for daily hearings and ordered that the trial be completed within 45 days. The court also ordered central security for the family.
The top court stepped in after a letter from the girl's family alleging threats from Kuldeep Sengar's aides. The family, in a letter to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on July 12, alleged grave danger to them from Sengar and his aides. The family had asked for protection, alleging that they had been harassed and intimidated over the past year and pressured to drop the case.
Kuldeep Sengar, a four-time BJP MLA, has been in jail since April last year. The girl has accused him of raping her in 2017. After the road accident, the rape survivor's family named Sengar in their First Information Report.
The case is seen as an example of brazen abuse of power by a politician apparently given a long rope by the administration led by his party.
Sengar was suspended after his arrest. As fresh allegations emerged against him, the BJP expelled him amid growing criticism about its reluctance to act against the politician.