BJP MLA convicted of rape

The trial court on Monday convicted BJP MLA from Unnao, Kuldeep Singh Sengar, on the charge of criminal conspiracy, abduction and gang rape of a minor.

The expelled MLA had assaulted the girl when he called her over to his residence in June 2017 on the pretext of assisting her with a job.

Sengar (52), who has been an MLA from Unnao for 17 years, has been also found guilty on various sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by the court, which was hearing the case on day-to-day basis since August 5, as per the apex court’s order.

The arguments on his quantum of punishment will be held on Tuesday.

The MLA is still on trial in four other cases. One of these relates to framing of the rape survivor's father in an illegal firearms case and his subsequent death in judicial custody on April 2018; the other case seeks to determine criminal conspiracy in an accident case in July 2019 in which the rape victim and her lawyer were severely injured and two of the victim’s aunts were killed. The accident had happened in suspicious circumstances.

The powerful Thakur leader, who is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail, had maintained all along

that the rape charges against him are false and motivated.

The apex court, taking cognisance of the rape survivor's letter to then Chief Justice of India, had on August one transferred all five cases against Sengar from a Lucknow court to Delhi, with directions to hold day-to-day trial, to be completed within 45 days. The conviction will lead to his disqualification as an MLA. Sengar, who is class 12 dropout, was referred to as ‘bahubali’ in state politics before his name cropped up in the case. He is believed to have the support of the so-called ‘Thakur lobby’ in the BJP. According to BJP sources, Sengar also enjoys the backing of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. BJP’s Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj had visited him in jail. Such was Sengar’s influence that the minor’s rape complaint wasn’t registered by the police for months until the victim reached the Chief Minister’s residence in Lucknow and threatened to immolate herself.