As the rape survivor and her lawyer from Unnao battle for their lives in Lucknow, and political potshots are taken, larger questions are being asked.
Madhu Garg, the president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), wondered why no steps were taken to protect the survivor even though the accused was in jail. Despite the security provided to her, she had to shift to Delhi.
“When I last met her in August, she said that if she were to ever go back to her village, she would not remain alive. She had received multiple threats. The whole village knew that she was to go and see her jailed uncle on the said date. The ruling party is bound to defend its MLA, but to show its seriousness, it must end his membership immediately,” Garg told THE WEEK.
Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the said MLA, is currently in jail for the rape of the survivor who was then 17-years-old.
On Sunday, she was on her way to Rae Bareli to meet her uncle Mahesh Singh, who is jailed on charges of forgery. She was accompanied by two female relatives in a car that had been given by her jailed uncle to her lawyer. One relative (Pushpa Singh, wife of Mahesh Singh) was killed instantaneously when a truck rammed into the white car. The other relative died after some time. Her lawyer Mahendra Singh is in critical condition and admitted to the King George’s Medical College. The injured were initially taken to the district hospital in Rae Bareli. Dr Sandeep Tiwari, head of the department of trauma surgery said, "Both are on ventilators and critical. It is too early for prognosis. There is suspicion of head injury, though this has not shown up in the CT scan. The lady has a fractured femur. The lawyer has multiple fractures".
Swati Singh, the state’s minister for women development, told THE WEEK, “Our government is doing everything possible for the survivor and her family, as well as that of the lawyer. Treatment will be free. We have also made arrangements for them to stay. They can stay at any hotel or guest house around the hospital where they feel safe”.
On Monday evening, AIDWA, which had supported the survivor through her ordeal, issued a charter of demands that included shifting of the trial to a fast track court, compensation to the families of those killed in the accident and an end to Sengar’s MLA status.
Mamta Singh, coordinator at Humsafar, a Lucknow-based organisation working on violence against women, which had been at the forefront of the fight of the rights of the survivor said, “This incident will make the legal fraternity fearful of helping poor people fight for justice, especially when they are standing against the powerful. The lawyer was helping the survivor voluntarily. He comes from a poor family.”
On Monday afternoon, an FIR was registered by Mahesh Singh, naming Sengar, his brother and eight others under Sections 302, 307, 506 and 120b of the CrPC. The FIR, which is also against 15-20 unidentified persons, states that the accused were known to threaten the survivor’s family and ask them to compromise. They would also say that when Mahesh Singh would come out of jail, he too would be destroyed. “The MLA would call my family members on mobile from within the jail and threaten them”, says the FIR.
Despite the high-profile nature of the case, it has not been moving. The lawyer of the accused, Satyendra Singh, said, “There is no judge in the trial court. There have been no dates for the last three months. I cannot say when the court will function again.”