Unnao rape case: SC refuses to withdraw complainant’s security cover
The court, however, revoked the security cover of the woman’s family members, noting that the case had now resulted in a conviction.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to revoke the security cover provided to the complainant in the Unnao rape case, citing continued concerns of threats to her safety, PTI reported.
The woman was raped in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district in 2017, when she was a minor. In December 2019, expelled Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar was convicted of raping the woman and was sentenced to life imprisonment and was also ordered to pay Rs 25 lakh as compensation to the complainant.
The top court, however, directed that the security cover for the woman’s family members and other witnesses in the case be revoked. The court clarified that the family members and other witnesses could reach out to the local police in case they continue to feel any threat.
“We are of the opinion that protection granted by this Court to the concerned persons at the relevant time may not be continued as the case has resulted in conviction who is awarded life imprisonment,” the bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and PB Varale said.
The woman and her family had been placed under the protection of the Central Reserve Police Force after an order from the top court in 2019. The court had noted at the time that there was a threat to the lives of the complainant, her mother and her lawyer, among other persons.
This came after the woman and her lawyer were severely injured in a car crash. Her family had alleged that Sengar was behind the accident. Two of the woman’s relatives, one of whom was a witness in the rape case, were killed.
In 2024, the Centre had moved a plea against the CRPF security cover provided to the complainant and her family. An analysis had shown that the woman and her family no longer needed a security detail, the counsel representing the Centre had told the court, PTI reported.
As the woman and her family now reside in Delhi, the Union government had contended that the security cover must be provided by the Delhi Police or the Uttar Pradesh Police.
The Central Reserve Police Force reports to the Union Home Ministry.
In March 2020, Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his brother Jaideep Singh Sengar, among others, were sentenced to 10 years in jail for the killing of the woman’s father in judicial custody.
In 2019, the Supreme Court had transferred all matters relating to the rape case from a Lucknow court to a Delhi court.
