THE 2017 Unnao rape case survivor on Wednesday termed the Delhi High Court’s decision to suspend the jail term of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar “kaal (death)” for her family and said that she would move the Supreme Court against it. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday suspended the sentence of Sengar, who is serving life imprisonment in the case, and ordered his release on bail pending the disposal of his appeal against his conviction by a trial court in December 2019.

 

Sengar, however, will remain in jail since he is also serving 10 years’ imprisonment in the custodial death case of the victim’s father and has not been granted bail in that case. Reacting to the verdict, the survivor, who was a minor when she was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017, told PTI over phone from Delhi that security for her family members, lawyers and witnesses had already been withdrawn and the court’s decision had deepened her fears. “If the convict gets bail in a case like this, how will the country’s daughters remain safe? For us, this decision is no less than ‘kaal’ (death),” she said. “Those with money win, those without money lose,” she rued. The survivor, who was heading out with her mother to stage a protest near Mandi House against the verdict, added that she would challenge the HC order in the Supreme Court.