'Victory of justice system': Priyanka Chaturvedi on Sengar's conviction in Unnao case

A Delhi court on Monday convicted expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar for raping an Unnao woman in 2017 when she was a minor. Reacting to the development, Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi has called his conviction 'a victory of the justice system'. Taking to Twitter, she wrote that the decision has shown to the people that those who are in positions of power can run but cannot hide from the consequences of their depravity and crime.

'The conviction is a victory of the justice system'

The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on December 19. Sengar, a four-time BJP MLA from UP's Bangermau, was expelled from the BJP in August 2019. The court had on August 9 framed charges against the MLA and co-accused Shashi Singh under Sections 120b (criminal conspiracy), 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping or inducing a woman to compel for marriage), 376 (rape) and other relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The offences entail a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

The case against Kuldeep Sengar

On July 28 this year, the woman who had accused Sengar was severely injured after the car in which she was travelling was hit by a truck. Two of her aunts were killed in the accident and her family had alleged foul play. The woman's father was allegedly framed in an illegal arms case and arrested on April 3, 2018. He died while in judicial custody a few days later, on April 9. During the trial in the rape case which was held in-camera, thirteen prosecution witnesses and nine defence witnesses were examined. The mother and uncle of the rape survivor were the main witnesses in the case.

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A special court was also held at AIIMS hospital to record the statement of the rape survivor, who was admitted there after she was air-lifted from a hospital in Lucknow following the car crash. The woman and her family have been provided CRPF security as per the apex court's orders. They have now been shifted to rented accommodation in the national capital with the assistance of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).

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(With Agency Inputs)