Unnao rape: HC seeks CBI’s response

The Allahabad High Court on Monday sought the CBI’s response to an affidavit filed by the mother of the Unnao rape victim alleging that the agency was not conducting a fair investigation into her husband’s murder.

The court also stayed the hearing under the POCSO Act in the rape case in which BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar is an accused along with others as the State counsel informed the court that the U.P. government has agreed to transfer the matter from Unnao to Lucknow following a CBI plea.

POCSO Act

The CBI told the court that the case was now before the special CBI court in Lucknow after it took over the investigation, and the matter under the POCSO Act, which is before an Unnao court, should also be transferred to the CBI court in Lucknow.

After the U.P. government counsel said that the State was ready to transfer the case, the Bench comprising Chief Justice D.B. Bhosale and Justice Suneet Kumar stayed the hearing in the Unnao court, pending a decision on the CBI’s transfer plea. The court also directed the CBI to file its reply on the affidavit by the mother of the victim alleging that the CBI was not conducting a fair investigation in her husband’s murder case and the FIR registered by the agency was different from the version in her complaint.

The 17-year-old girl has alleged that she was raped by the MLA at his residence, when she had gone to meet him with a relative, seeking a job on June 4, 2017.

Frustrated with the alleged inaction, the victim attempted self-immolation in front of Chief Minister’s residence on April 8. The next day, her father died in jail.