New Delhi/Lucknow: On a day when a most brutal rape happened on the streets of the national capital some years back, another daughter from Uttar Pradesh got justice as former state legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar was convicted on Monday by a court in Delhi.
The verdict was much awaited as the ups and downs in the case shocked the nation and even included an alleged assassination attempt said to have been planned by Sengar from behind bars.
While the expelled BJP lawmaker was convicted, his accomplice Shashi Singh was given the benefit of doubt by Special Judge Dharmesh Sharma and acquitted.
Sengar was convicted for rape under the Indian Penal Code and for the offense of public servant committing penetrative sexual assault on a child under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The judgment was based on mobile phone record evidence — the movement of the accused was not in sync with that of the cell phone.
However, acquitting his aide, the judge observed: “The role of Shashi Singh is in doubt. It is clear that she had taken the girl to the spot. But she didn’t know that the incident will take place...
The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on December 19.
The Unnao woman was allegedly kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor.
The rape complaint, however, was registered only after she attempted to immolate herself outside Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s official residence in Lucknow. (IANS)