A special court set up at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on Wednesday began in camera proceedings in the Unnao rape case, PTI reported. District Judge Dharmesh Sharma will record the statement of the complainant. In-camera proceedings are not open to the public and the press.

The complainant was injured in a car crash in July and has been in hospital in a critical condition since then. The Delhi High Court had on September 6 approved recording her statement at AIIMS. The High Court issued the notification after the Supreme Court asked it to expeditiously decide on the request of a special judge for setting up a temporary court at AIIMS.

The rape accused, expelled Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, and co-accused Shashi Singh were brought to the temporary court at the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre in AIIMS.

On September 6, the Supreme Court had granted the Central Bureau of Investigation two more weeks to finish its investigation in the car crash case.

On July 28, a truck collided with the car in which the 19-year-old woman was travelling in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli district. Two of her aunts, one of whom was a key witness in the rape case, were killed. The woman and her lawyer were critically injured.

On August 1, the Supreme Court had transferred five cases related to the rape complainant to a competent court in Delhi. A bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had ordered that the trial in the cases be held on daily basis and to complete proceedings within 45 days. The court has since given the CBI extensions to finish its investigation.

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