Unnao rape survivor still on life support, lawyer stable; CBI forms probe team

Unnao rape survivor still on life support, lawyer stable; CBI forms probe team
A UP government official hands over a cheque of Rs 25 lakh rupees to the family members of Unnao rape survivor, in Lucknow. PTI

New Delhi/Lucknow: The CBI has formed a 20-member additional special team to probe the Unnao rape survivor's accident case, agency spokesperson said on Friday.

In addition, six top forensic experts from Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory have already reached the crime scene, he said.

Sources said the forensic team took a Swift car, same as the victim was travelling in when the accident happened on Sunday, with it and has already started recreating the crime scene.

The 20-member special team will assist a five-member team in Lucknow which is already probing the case, the spokesperson said.

'Rape survivor, her lawyer stable'

The woman is still on ventilator and has a fever but her condition and that of her lawyer remains stable, doctors at the King Georges Medical University said on Friday.

The lawyer is now breathing without a ventilator but being given oxygen with the help of a tube inserted in the windpipe, KGMU media in-charge Dr Sandeep Tiwari said in a medical bulletin.

The young woman is still on ventilator and has had a fever since Thursday night, Tiwari told PTI, adding that the condition of both is stable.

The rape survivor and her lawyer suffered critical injuries on Sunday when their car was hit by a truck in Rae Bareli. Two of her aunts were killed.

The CBI, which has taken over the investigation into Sunday's road accident, booked 10 people for murder, including BJP legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is already in jail on charges of raping the Unnao woman when she was a minor in 2017.

On Monday, Uttar Pradesh police filed a murder case against Sengar and nine others after the rape survivor's family filed a complaint alleging conspiracy behind the accident.

With the opposition accusing the BJP of shielding its lawmaker, the ruling party expelled Sengar on Thursday.

SC steps in

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court said on Friday that the Unnao rape victim's family, which wants her to be treated at Lucknow hospital as of now, is at liberty to take a call on shifting her to AIIMS in New Delhi.

The apex court took note of a statement made by senior advocate V Giri that she is unconscious and on ventilator, and her family has expressed that she be treated at the Lucknow hospital for the time being. Giri is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi accepted the suggestion and said the victim's family is at liberty to take a call on shifting her to AIIMS in Delhi from Lucknow.

The bench, also comprising justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, was informed that her lawyer, who was also injured in the accident, was taken off the ventilator but his condition is still critical.

The lawyer's father was indecisive on him being shifted to Delhi, the Supreme Court was informed.

The bench gave liberty to the family of the victim and the lawyer to approach the Supreme Court's secretary general at any point for shifting them to AIIMS in Delhi.

The apex court also directed shifting of the rape victim's uncle, Mahesh Singh, from Raebareli jail to Tihar and deferred the matter for further order on Monday.

Mahesh Singh's wife was in the ill fated car and had died in the accident. He participated in her cremation on Wednesday after the Allahabad High Court granted him parole for a day.

He has been convicted in a 19-year-old case and sentenced to 10 years jail term on a case filed by Sengar's brother, Atul Singh.

The apex court also directed all media houses not to disclose the identity of the victim directly, indirectly, or in any manner.

UP govt delivers Rs 25 lakh to the family

During the brief hearing, the Uttar Pradesh government informed the bench that the interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh has already been released to the victim's family.

The Supreme Court has deferred hearing in the rape case for Monday.

The apex court had on Thursday transferred all five cases registered in connection with the incident from a Lucknow court to a court in Delhi with directions to hold trial on daily basis and completing it within 45-days.

It directed transferring of the cases from CBI court in Lucknow to the court of District Judge Dharmesh Sharma at Tis Hazari courts in Delhi.

Besides the main rape case and the accident case, the three other matters which were transferred to the national capital are the FIR which was lodged against victim's father under Arms Act, his custodial death and the gang rape of the victim.

The top court had further said that CBI will have to complete the investigation within seven days into the recent accident in which the victim and her lawyer were critically injured and two of her aunts killed.

It had said the agency can avail of additional seven days in exceptional circumstances, but in no case the time frame will be extended beyond a fortnight.

The apex court had directed that the victim, her mother, other members of the family and their lawyer will be provided security by the CRPF and an officer of the level of commandant will file a compliance report forthwith.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)

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