High court takes cognisance of letter petition
ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad high court on Wednesday took cognisance of the letter petition by senior advocate Gopal Swaroop Chaturvedi seeking a courtmonitored investigation into the rape of a woman in Unnao, allegedly by a BJP MLA and his aides, and in the death of her father in judicial custody.
The bench comprising chief justice DB Bhosale and justice Suneet Kumar appointed Chaturvedi as amicus curiae in the case to represent the victim.
The court directed the letter be registered as PIL and fixed April 12 as the next hearing.
The bench asked advocate general or one of the additional advocate generals to remain present during the hearing and apprise the court with the case and action taken in this connection.
The court directed the officials concerned to preserve the body of the rape survivor’s father, if the cremation has not already been done.
In his letter petition dated April 11, the senior advocate cited a report published in the Hindustan Times in which chief medical officer of Unnao Dr SP Chaudhary had said that 14 injuries were found on the body of the alleged rape victim’s father and he died of shock and septicaemia caused due to perforation in intestine. In the letter, Chaturvedi sought a court-monitored investigation to ensure fair investigation into the case.
The court observed, “What is disturbing, as submitted by Mr Chaturvedi, is that the father of the prosecutrix, for no reason, came to be arrested and was in custody, where he was mercilessly beaten and he succumbed to the injuries yesterday.”
“We fail to understand why the investigating agency instead of arresting accused persons, arrested complainant, in connection with this case.”
In the letter, the senior advo-
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What is disturbing is that the father of the prosecutrix, for no reason, came to be arrested and was in custody, where he was beaten and he succumbed to the injuries
cate demanded fair investigation into the case as it involved an MLA of the ruling party.
The woman has alleged that BJP MLA from Unnao’s Bangarmau constituency Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his aides raped her on June 4, 2017 when she had gone to his house with a neighbour to seek his help in getting a job. She said the police did not name Sengar in the official document that recorded her complaint.
On April 3, the woman’s father was allegedly assaulted by the MLA’s brother Atul Singh Sengar.