Activist Yogita Bhayana stages a dharna with the family of the Unnao gang rape victim. (PTI Photo)
The Unnao rape victim on Saturday met CBI officials in the Capital and filed a complaint alleging that the Investigating Officer (IO) in the case is “hand in glove” with the accused, former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, and his family.
Delhi also witnessed protests by politicians and activists at Jantar Mantar and near Parliament. Women rights activist Yogita Bhayana, Congress leader Mumtaz Patel and several other protesters who were staging a sit-in near the Parliament complex were detained by the police and later released.
Earlier in the day, the victim told The Indian Express that she had gone to the Delhi High Court to ask the judge why Sengar’s sentence had been suspended.
“In the morning, I went to the Delhi High Court to meet the judge to ask why this relief was given to such a powerful man. The court knows that my family and I are under threat. I was told that the court was closed,” she said.
“Then I went to the CBI, where I wanted to meet senior CBI officials. There too, I was told that they were not present due to holiday and I should come back on Monday. However, I submitted a complaint against the Investigating Officer, stating that he had colluded with Sengar and his family. The IO and other CBI officials often meet Sengar’s daughter,” she said.
The victim said in her complaint that she had sought security for the witnesses as well as for her family members and friends who supported her in the case. “Security for the witnesses has been removed. None of them are safe today,” she said. The victim went to the CBI office with her mother and her lawyer.
She said she went near Parliament in the evening but was not allowed to hold a protest. “I heard that Yogita ma’am (women’s rights activist Yogita Bayana) and others were detained by the police for holding a protest against the court’s decision. I went there soon after coming out of the CBI office,” she said.
“Had the CBI stood with my lawyer, we would not have had to see this day. We would have won, and they would have lost,” she said.
The victim said she has planned to hold a demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Monday.
The detention of the activists near Parliament complex on Saturday came a day after the victim’s mother, along with activists, staged a protest outside the Delhi High Court.
A group of people from the Revolutionary Workers Party of India (RWPI) also held a protest at Jantar Mantar, demanding justice for the victim.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the release of Sengar on bail pending disposal of his appeal against his conviction in the 2017 rape case. Sengar will continue to remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year sentence in connection with the custodial death of the victim’s father and has not been granted bail in that case.