The family of the Unnao rape case victim and other women social workers protested outside the Delhi High Court on Friday against the conditional bail granted to Unnao rape case convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar.
The police warned the protesters, saying, “Protesting here is prohibited and illegal. Legal action can be taken against you within five minutes. If you want to protest, go to Jantar Mantar.”
The victim’s mother sought rejection of the bail plea and said she would move the Supreme Court for justice, adding that she had lost faith in the High Court’s decision.
“His bail plea should be rejected. We will approach the Supreme Court. We have lost faith in the High Court. If we do not get justice in the Supreme Court, we will move to another country… The culprit of my husband’s murder should be hanged immediately,” she told ANI.
Women activist Yogita Bhayana said they peacefully approached the Delhi High Court demanding justice for the Unnao rape victim and urged them to hear the petition, adding that they would protest if justice was not given.
Speaking to ANI, Yogita Bhayana said, “Today we have come peacefully to the High Court to appeal to cancel the injustice done to our daughter and to hear our petition. If we do not get justice, we will protest, and it is our right.”
Congress leader Mumtaz Patel criticized the Delhi High Court decision, calling it “a major blow” and saying it undermines the self-confidence of women across the country.
Patel said, “It is a huge blow, the way the High Court has acquitted Sengar on technical grounds. It is setting a very wrong precedent in the country. How this decision must have shattered her confidence. Not only hers, but that of women across the country.”
Delhi High Court has granted bail (suspension of sentence) to former MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the Unnao rape case. He was convicted by a CBI court in Delhi in a case of rape of a minor and was serving life imprisonment.
He has been given relief on the condition that he deposits a bail bond of Rs 15 lakh.
However, he has not yet got bail in the case of custodial death of the victim’s father, so he will remain in custody. His appeal and application to suspend his sentence are pending in the Delhi High Court. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in that case.
While granting bail, the High Court has directed that Sengar will not go within a radius of 5 kilometers of the victim’s residence in Delhi. It has also been directed that Sengar will remain in Delhi and will not contact the victim’s family.