Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi met the Unnao rape survivor along with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday. The visit comes after the survivor was allegedly manhandled by police for protesting against the relief granted to Unnao rape case convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar.
Rahul Gandhi met the rape survivor at Sonia Gandhi's 10, Janpath residence after the woman staged a protest in Delhi against the bail granted by the Delhi High Court to the convict, expelled BJP leader Sengar, in the case. Survivor was accompanied by her mother during the meeting.
Earlier, Rahul condemned the manhandling of the survivor and said, "We are not just becoming a dead economy—with such inhuman incidents, we are also turning into a dead society." Saying it was shameful that bail was granted to the convict in the case, Rahul said, "The survivor deserves respect, safety, and justice—not helplessness, fear, and injustice."
On the meeting, the survivor told presspersons, "Both of them had tears in their eyes. They assured us that they would help us get justice. Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi were crying after hearing me." The victim said the "order has weakened the daughters of the country."
The victim reportedly urged Rahul Gandhi to help them get a top lawyer to fight the case against Sengar in the Supreme Court, and he has promised to do that. "I want to meet the prime minister and the president, too," she said.
"This is the first order of its kind where a sentence has been stopped and bail given. There is fear in the minds of all women. What kind of government is this?" the survivor asked.
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- Unnao rape case: Delhi HC grants bail to ex-BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar
Sources said the rape survivor also requested Rahul Gandhi to help her and her family members relocate to a Congress-ruled state, as they fear persecution and are not confident of their security.
Sengar, however, will remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year term in connection with the custodial death of the rape survivor's father and has not been granted bail in that case. The survivor was a minor when she was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017.