New Delhi : Several women’s rights activists, along with the family of the Unnao rape survivor, gathered outside the Delhi High Court on Friday to protest the court’s order suspending the sentence of convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar, but were soon asked to disperse, with police warning that the demonstration was prohibited and directing them to move to Jantar Mantar.
Protesters were stopped from demonstrating outside the Delhi High Court, leading to a brief exchange with court security. Security personnel told them protests are not allowed at the court gate and asked them to move.
Demonstrating here is prohibited and illegal. Legal action may be taken against you after five minutes. If you want to protest, go to Jantar Mantar,” the police warned the protesters.
Days after she was driven away from India Gate, activist Yogita Bhayana now expressed frustration over being told to move from the court premises. “We are being pushed from one place to another. Where do we go to raise our voice?” she asked.
The mother of the survivor said the bail should be rejected, expressing loss of faith in the High Court’s verdict.
“His bail should be rejected… We will knock on the doors of the Supreme Court. We have lost faith in the High Court… If we don’t get justice in the Supreme Court, we will go to another country… The person guilty of my husband’s murder should be hanged immediately,” she told news agency ANI.
The protesters later dispersed while reiterating their demand for justice.
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court’s decision to suspend the jail term of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was convicted in the 2017 Unnao rape case. The plea, submitted by advocates Anjale Patel and Pooja Shilpkar, requests that the Supreme Court put a hold on the High Court’s order pending further review.
The petitioners argued that the High Court granted suspension without taking into account the trial court’s findings. They contended that the High Court passed the order without considering that the trial court observed that Sengar must remain in jail for the rest of his natural life.
According to the plea, the High Court’s decision did not address the severity of Sengar’s criminal background and the seriousness of the offence. The petitioners asserted, “The High Court has committed a grave error in law as well as on facts in granting bail/suspension of sentence to Sengar despite his serious criminal antecedents and his established involvement in the heinous offences of rape.”
The Supreme Court is expected to review the matter and decide whether to stay the High Court’s suspension of sentence order as sought by the petitioners.
