Death of Unnao rape victim’s father: HC seeks CBI reply on Kuldeep Sengar’s plea

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, 3 December, asked the CBI to respond to expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar's plea seeking suspension on medical grounds of the 10-year jail term awarded to him for the custodial death of the Unnao rape victim's father.

The high court also asked jail authorities to file a report on Sengar's medical condition and listed the plea for further hearing on January 13 next year.

"Issue notice limited only to medical grounds," Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri said.

The court was informed by the CBI's counsel that the high court had in June this year refused to suspend Sengar's sentence during the pendency of his appeal against conviction.

The counsel for Sengar submitted that he was seeking suspension of sentence on medical grounds as his health was deteriorating and it was a medical emergency.

He added that Sengar's appeal challenging the trial court's conviction and sentencing order has not been heard for a long time and he has been in jail for the last eight years, while the maximum punishment awarded to him was 10 years in the case.

Sengar has already been convicted of raping the minor daughter of the deceased man and sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of his life in that case.

Sengar's appeal challenging the trial court's verdict in the main Unnao rape case is already pending in the high court.

He has sought quashing of the 16 December 2019, judgment of the trial court, which convicted him in the rape case. Sengar has also sought to set aside the 20 December 2019, order sentencing him to imprisonment for the remainder of his life.

The girl was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor.

On 13 March 2020, Sengar was sentenced by the trial court to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, besides a fine of Rs 10 lakh, in the case of the death of the rape victim's father in custody. The trial court had said "no leniency" can be shown for killing a family's "sole bread earner".

It had also awarded a 10-year jail term to Sengar's brother Atul Singh Sengar and five other people for their role in the custodial killing of the father of the rape victim.

The girl's father was arrested at the behest of Sengar under the Arms Act and died in custody on 9 April 2018, owing to police brutality.

The trial court, which did not hold the accused guilty of murder under the IPC, awarded the maximum sentence for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder to the convicts under section 304 of the IPC after holding that there was no intention to kill.

On 1 August 2019, the Supreme Court directed the transfer of the case from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi.