Kuldeep Sengar, who was expelled from BJP for Unnao rape, gets life term

Kuldeep Sengar, who was expelled from BJP for Unnao rape, gets life term
In this file photo dated Aug 5, 2019, expelled BJP MLA and accused in the Unnao rape case Kuldeep Singh Sengar is taken to Tihar jailafter being produced Tis Hazari court, in New Delhi. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar will remain in jail for entire life for raping a woman in Unnao in 2017, a Delhi court said on Friday while sentencing him to life imprisonment.

District Judge Dharmesh Sharma also imposed an exemplary fine of Rs 25 lakh in the case and has to be paid within a month.

"This court does not find any mitigating circumstance. Sengar was public servant and betrayed people's faith," the judge said while declining the plea for lenient approach in sentencing him.

The court also said the conduct of Sengar was to intimidate the rape survivor.

It also directed that the rape survivor be paid an additional Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the mother of the victim.

The court had on Monday convicted Sengar for rape under the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act for offence by a public servant committing penetrative sexual assault against a child after holding the victim to be a minor.

The court said the victim's testimony was "truthful and unblemished" against a "powerful person". Shashi Singh, a co-accused in the case was acquitted of all charges.

The Supreme Court, taking cognisance of the rape survivor's letter written to the then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, had on August 1 transferred all five cases registered in connection with the Unnao rape incident from a Lucknow court in Uttar Pradesh to the court in Delhi with directions to hold trial on a day-to-day basis, completing it within 45 days.

The case was heard from August 5 on a day-to-day basis.

However, the Supreme Court had on September 6 further extended the deadline on the request of the District Judge with liberty to seek more extension.

The court had on August 9 framed charges against the MLA and Singh under Sections 120 b (criminal conspiracy), 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping or inducing a woman to compel for marriage), 376 (rape) and other relevant sections of the POCSO Act.

On July 28 this year, the car of the survivor was hit by a truck and she was severely injured. The woman's two aunts were killed in the accident and her family had alleged foul play.

The trial in the other four cases -- framing of the rape survivor's father in illegal firearms case and his death in judicial custody, conspiracy of Sengar with others in the accident case and a separate case of gang rape of the rape survivor by three others -- are ongoing in the court.

The CBI Tuesday sought life imprisonment for expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, convicted for raping a woman in Unnao in 2017, saying it was a fight for justice of an individual against the system.

The probe agency urged the court to give maximum punishment of life term, prescribed under the law, to the politician.

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