Callforhelp didn’telicitresponse From village chief to MLA, Sengar’s clout grew quickly

Family of the 19-year-old rape survivor says it wrote 36 letters asking for protection in the past year

LUCKNOW: Over the past year, family members of the 19-yearold rape survivor from Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, wrote letters to top government officials, politicians and police officers seeking protection and help.

A majority of these missives -36 since April 2018-- were pleas for protection against four-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is accused of raping the teenager. But the family says that most of the letters elicited no response from any of the authorities addressed.

“No one helped us. Police turned down our requests to take action against the MLA’S henchmen who had been harassing and threatening us,” said the woman’s maternal uncle.

Family members claim they approached the police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) but were forced to finally write to the Chief Justice of India on July 12, demanding action ‘against people who were threatening the victim’s family.”

In August 2018, the family wrote to the CBI, which was probing the rape case, saying they were getting threats from Sengar’s associates. After receiving the letter, the CBI shifted Senger from Unnao jail to Sitapur jail.

In a letter to then principal secretary (home) of Uttar Pradesh Arvind Kumar on July 12 , the victim’s mother said the family was receiving threats from a man called as Manoj Singh, who is Sengar’s brother.

“Manoj with one Kannu Singh and two other unidentified men drove down to my house and said that they have fixed the judge and arranged for release of Kuldeep Singh,” she wrote.

In another letter to the director general police (DGP) OP Singh on July 11, the mother claimed a threat by Haripal Singh, husband of Sashi Singh, one of the accused in the rape case. Sashi Singh is currently lodged in Unnao district jail.

Madhaw Prasad Verma, the Unnao superintendent of police, acknowledged that ”several” letters were written to the SP’S office by the family. “Most of the letter was about threat for which security was already provided to the victim. Officers here tell me that the security details of the victim were alerted on many occasions in response to these letters.” LUCKNOW: Rape accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Kuldeep Singh Sengar, 52, began his political career as a village head in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao around three decades back. He was first elected as an assembly member in 2002. Sengar has since been re-elected thrice.

The lawmaker was born in Fatehpur before his family shifted to his mother’s village-unnao’s Makhi. “His father, Mulayam Singh, is from Fatehpur district... Sengar was very young when his family moved to Makhi. His two brothers, Atul Singh Sengar and Manoj Singh Sengar, were born in Unnao,” said a person closely associated with the family.

He said Sengar’s maternal grandfather, Babu Singh, was Makhi village head for 37 years before Sengar succeeded him in 1988. Sengar remained the village head for seven years. His aunt contested an election to the post unsuccessfully in 1995 when it was reserved for women. Sengar’s mother, Chunni Devi, was elected the village head in 2000. She was re-elected to the position in 2005.

Sengar was first elected as Uttar Pradesh assembly member in 2002 from Unnao’s Sadar constituency on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket. He joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) after he was expelled from the BSP in 2007 for alleged anti-party activities when he was re-elected from Unnao’s Bangarmau assembly constituency.

“In 2012, he won the Bhagwant Nagar assembly seat [in Unnao] on an SP ticket. He joined the BJP before the 2017 assembly elections and was elected from Bangarmau,” said the person quoted above.

Sengar’s family members have held several posts in local bodies in Unnao. In 2015, his sister-inlaw, Archana Singh, was elected as Makhi village head. Sengar’s wife, Sangeeta Singh, is Unnao’s district panchayat head.