‘After rape, MLA promised her job’
LUCKNOW/UNNAO: The 17-year-old girl, who has accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar of raping her last year, alleged the lawmaker promised her a job and threatened to have her family members killed if she revealed the sexual assault, according to a woman activist who met her.
The girl also claimed the administration had confined her and her family without food or water at a hotel near Unnao where they have been staying since Monday, when her father died in judicial custody. She was taken to Makhi village from the hotel on Wednesday and then brought back to it (the hotel) later in the day.
“On June 4 (last year), when the girl was taken to the MLA with a job promise, he raped her. When she pleaded with the MLA to let her go, he wiped her tears and said that he would ensure her a job, if she stayed quiet and did not talk about the rape to anyone,” said Madhu Garg, the woman activist.
Garg said the 17-year-old cried inconsolably as she recounted the horror that many other girls underwent in a school owned by the MLA in Makhi area of Unnao. “The girl told us that Kuldeep Singh Sengar would lock the girls in a room in the school and sexually harass them,” Garg said.
“This created fear among the girls. Many stopped going to school. Even this girl dropped out after class 8,” said Garg. “The MLA’s fear was prominent in the area and no one could dare to speak against him. No police (officials) would tolerate any complaint against Sengar and thus no one ever dared to speak out against him,” said Garg, quoting her hour-long conversation with the alleged rape survivor. The MLA has rejected allegations and claimed they are part of a political conspiracy to tarnish his image.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, the MLA’s wife met the UP director general of police (DGP) OP Singh, demanding a narco analysis test of the MLA as well the victim and her uncle to know the truth. The teenager now complains of fatigue and a high level of mental stress. Her relatives say she has fainted a number of times since Tuesday night. For now, the family has stopped anyone from seeing her.
She has been given a tablet and needs rest, her uncle said.
She appeared to have difficulty walking as she emerged from the hotel near Unnao. Two policewomen helped her to one of the four vehicles sent to take the family to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) waiting for them in Makhi, the girl’s village.
“Kuldeep Sengar will not let us live; I will not go to my village,” the girl screamed.
“I am seeking justice for the last one year; it is being denied to me, the BJP is saving the MLA,” she said. She claimed she and her family had been put under house arrest at the hotel.
“We are not allowed to move out, we are constantly guarded,” she said, adding, “we haven’t been given food or water. They want us to break down.”
Rejecting the allegation, the administration claimed four rooms had been kept in the hotel to ensure the safety of the alleged rape survivor and her family.
Four inspectors and 12 police constables stood guard in the hotel hall. Six policewomen were on the floor where the girl was given a room.
“Kuldeep Sengar raped me at his house, he promised me a job then and threatened to kill my family,” she said. “He didn’t allow us to study, kept my family under his thumb.”On April 3, the Sengars carried out the threat, she alleged. “Atul Singh, Anil Singh, Pramod Mishra barged in my house and dragged my father out of his sleep. They wanted to make an example of him,” she alleged. “He was tied to a Neem tree. They kept beating him savagely, pouring water on him and handed him over to the police,” she said. The father was sent to jail on the charge of possessing an illegal firearm. He died apparently of internal injuries caused during the assault.
She said she was certain her entire family would be killed like her father. “If Kuldeep Sengar is not hanged; I have reached a point where I will kill myself,” she said, adding that all she wanted was a meeting with chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
“He had assured me of justice when I met him in August last year; this government is doing nothing.” Her uncle said the family had no faith in the SIT and claimed it could be easily influenced. “We want the CBI to investigate this case. The government should order a CBI inquiry,” he said. The girl had attempted self-immolation in front of chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence on Sunday, saying the police did not hear her out despite her repeated efforts to lodge a complaint.