Unnao rape
He said the application was forwarded to officers in Unnao for action. “Since no FIR was lodged by the police officers at that time, action is being taken against the errant officers as per departmental rules,”he said.The bench asked when the government proposed to arrest Sengar, to which the advocate general replied that he was not in a position make a statement on the matter. “The police will proceed in accordance with law only after recording the statements of the complainant and witnesses,” he said.
On several occasions, the advocate general said that in Uttar Pradesh, the police only made arrests after conducting an investigation.
Referring to the SIT report, the court said, “Medical officers and the police, all were hand-in-glove with the accused to save them and you acted against those officers on the basis of this report. But to arrest the rape accused you need to do further investigation.”
“The police are not ready to register the FIR of a minor rape victim. In spite of SIT report, you are repeating that we can only take action after investigation. If this is the conduct of the police in the state, whom a victim will approach to register a complaint? If this is the stand you are repeatedly taking, then we will be forced to observe in our order that law and order has collapsed in the state,” the bench observed.
Amicus curiae and senior advocate Chaturvedi said that In cases involving heinous crimes like rape of a minor, the accused should have been immediately arrested.
“On the one hand, the advocate general is seeking more time for investigation in the rape case before arresting the accused, claiming it to be a procedure followed in the state, while on the other, the victim’s father was arrested for possessing illegal firearm without any investigation,” he said.
The rape victim’s father died in judicial custody on Monday after the alleged assault by Sengar’s brother Atul. Social workers and political parties organised protests to demand the arrest of Sengar. Former member of the Uttar Pradesh Commission for Protection of Child Rights Nahid Lari Khan said Sengar should be immediately arrested under the POSCO Act. “What is happening? It is really surprising that despite an FIR, the MLA has not been arrested as yet,” she said.
“Police officials shielding the MLA should also be booked under the Act,” she said. The women’s wing of the Congress also took out a protest march demanding the arrest of the MLA.
President of the All-India Mahila Congress Sushmita Dev, who led the march, said the role of UP police was highly questionable. “They are allowing the MLA to roam freely despite him being accused of committing a heinous crime. There is no rule of law in UP,” she said. BSP chief Mayawati said PM Narendra Modi, who with his colleagues sat on a day-long fast on Thursday to protest disruptions in the second half of Parliament’s budget session, should “instead fast to protest against the misdeeds of BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar.” “The police have lodged FIR against Sengar, accused in the rape of a minor girl, under POCSO Act and other serious sections of the IPC, but he has not been arrested yet. It clearly shows that ‘jungleraj’ prevails in the state. The PM should apologise to the people for the conduct of his party MLA. Since he represents Varanasi in Lok Sabha, the banks of Ganga will be appropriate for his repentance.”
Mayawati added the delay in the arrest of Sengar, even after an FIR, and the decision of the state government to hand over the case to the CBI, clearly shows that the BJP government wants to play down the case.