Three police personnel who were part of a team of nine tasked to protect the Unnao rape complainant were suspended on Thursday on charges of dereliction of duty, PTI reported. On Sunday, the 19-year-old complainant was critically injured when her car was hit by a truck in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli district. She and her lawyer are in serious condition, while two of her aunts died in the collision.

The suspended police personnel – a male gunner Sudesh Kumar and two police women Sunita Devi and Ruby Patel – were not with the complainant at the time of the car crash, Superintendent of Police, Unnao, Madhawa Prasad Verma told PTI.

Verma said that three police personnel were deputed to accompany the complainant when she she went anywhere while six other police personnel were deployed for security at her residence in Unnao, Hindustan Times reported.

He said the preliminary inquiry in the case confirmed negligence on the part of the three personnel.

Earlier, Additional Director General, Lucknow Range, Rajeev Krishna had said that the police personnel did not accompany the complainant as her family members themselves asked them to stay back as due to lack of space in the car. Krishna, however, had added that still it needs to be investigated properly as to that why security personnel did not accompany her despite being aware of the risk to her life.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the transfer of five cases related to the Unnao rape complainant to a competent court in Delhi. The trial court is to hear the cases on a daily basis and complete proceedings within 45 days. The top court also directed that the complainant and be family be given Central Reserve Police Force security and that she receive Rs 25-lakh compensation from the government of Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier in the day, the court had ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to complete its inquiry into the car crash within a week, or maximum, a fortnight.

The teenager’s family has blamed aides of MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar for the crash crash. Sengar has been in prison since April 2018 for allegedly raping her. The family has made 25 complaints since July 2018 about threats from the MLA, his family and his associates, Verma said.

The MLA was arrested on April 13, 2018, after the girl accused him of raping her in June 2017, when she visited his home to ask for a job. The complainant accused the police of not taking any action when she had approached them after the alleged incident.