Plea in Supreme Court seeks CBI inquiry into Unnao teenager’s rape and custodial death of her father
The man was allegedly tortured by the brother of the BJP MLA the teenager has accused of raping her and died in police custody on Monday.
A petitioner on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to order a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry against Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and his associates who are accused of raping a teenage girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao in July, PTI reported. Advocate Manohar Lal Sharma also sought an inquiry into the death of the teenager’s father in police custody on Monday.
Without naming the Bharatiya Janata Party, the petitioner alleged that the ruling party had a role in the custodial death of the teenager’s father and as such the state police would not be able to conduct a fair investigation “under political pressure”.
The public interest litigation also asked that for compensation and protection be provided to the victim.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh Crime Branch arrested the accused MLA’s brother Atul Singh Sengar and four of his accomplices for allegedly assaulting the 16-year-old’s father last week, apparently to get him to withdraw his daughter’s rape complaint against the MLA.
All five accused were sent to Unnao district jail, ANI reported. The police will file an application for remand on Wednesday.
The teenager has alleged that Sengar and his accomplices raped her in 2017 and beat up her family when they tried to file a complaint. On Sunday, she and her family attempted to commit suicide outside Chief Minister Adityanath’s house in Lucknow. Alleging that no action had been taken even after she had approached the chief minister, the teenager tried to set herself on fire before the police stopped her.
The legislator has denied the allegations. On Monday, he claimed he did not know about the father’s death. He told reporters that the allegations were a conspiracy against him by “low-class” people.
Chief Minister Adityanath summoned the MLA on Monday and later told the media, “Those at fault, whoever they might be, will not be spared.”