Death of Unnao rape survivor’s dad: Sengar gets 10-yr term

NEW DELHI: Expelled BJP legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar and six others were on Friday sentenced to 10 years in prison on the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder of the father of the Unnao rape survivor.
District judge Dharmesh Sharma compensated the deceased’s family with an award of Rs 10 lakh, to be paid by Sengar and his brother Atul, who is a co-convict in the case.
The court also directed the UP government to initiate disciplinary action against the doctors whose “gross negligence” that led to the death of the father. “The deceased was the sole bread winner of his family, comprising his wife, four daughters — two of whom are minors and a minor son. They have been uprooted from their native place and it would be difficult for them to go back,” the court said.
Sengar and his brother were consequently directed to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to the wife and children of the deceased.
Apart from these two, the court sentenced Makhi police station in-charge Ashok Singh Bhadauria, sub-inspector K P Singh, and Vineet Mishra, Birendra Singh and Shashi Pratap Singh to 10 years in jail.
The 10-year jail term awarded under Section 304 (culpable homicide) Part (ii) (if act is done with knowledge that it is likely to cause death, but without any intention to cause death, etc.), is the maximum among all punishments for the offences the convicts had committed. The CBI had argued for a maximum punishment for the convict a day ago.
In its conviction order, the court highlighted that the convicts demonstrated their “political and muscle power” in order to criminally intimidate the deceased and his family and deter them from pursuing the sexual assault case against 0Sengar.
While framing charges in August last year, the court had viewed the death as a “part of a larger conspiracy to deter, silence and prevent the father from pursuing the complaint” in the rape case of his daughter in 2017.
The convicted policemen in the culpable homicide case were stated to be “seasoned police officials”, who provided “protective police cover” to the convicts. “They disobeyed the direction of law to protect the life and liberty of the victim,” the court said. Four persons, including a UP police constable, were acquitted for want of evidence.
Among the various IPC charges, the accused will face punishment under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy).
“Bhadauria and K P Singh fabricated false evidence against the victim... causing him grievous hurt,” the court said. It came on record that the father was brutally assaulted and at the same charges of assault, criminal intimidation and possession of fire arms were slapped against him owing to a conspiracy on the part of the convicts. Four others — Shailendra Singh, Ram Sharan Sinigh, Sharadveer Singh and UP police constable Amir Khan — were given benefit of doubt and acquitted of all charges.
In December, 2019, Sengar was sentenced to life imprisonment till the remainder of his natural life and slapped Rs 25 lakh fine for raping a minor from Unnao in 2017. While awarding the jail term, the court observed that the survivor and her family had been “uprooted from their native village” and couldn’t even “dream of returning to their native place and live peacefully ever after”.