Unnao rape: Delhi High Court refuses to suspend sentence of Kuldeep Singh Sengar's brother in murder of victim's father

The Delhi High Court recently refused to suspend the jail sentence imposed on Jaideep Singh Senger alias Atul Singh, who was convicted in a case concerning the death of the father of the victim in the 2017 Unnao rape case [Jaideep Singh Senger @ Atul Singh v CBI]..Jaideep Singh Senger had sought suspension of his sentence during the pendency of an appeal against his conviction.Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma considered Senger’s case and noted that he has been in judicial custody for a period of about three years, which is much lower than the half of total sentence awarded to the appellant, which is rigorous imprisonment for ten years.“[This Court] takes into account the period of custody undergone by the appellant, his medical condition, the severity and gravity of the offence committed by him and the impact of public confidence in Courts for the purpose of deciding his application for suspension of sentence, this Court finds no merit in it and is not inclined to allow the same at this stage,” the Court added while rejecting the plea..Jaideep Singh Senger is the brother of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kuldeep Singh Senger.Jaideep was convicted in a case concerning the death of a man whose 17-year-old daughter was raped by Kuldeep Singh Senger in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao. Kuldeep Singh Senger was convicted for the rape in December 2019. In March 2020, a trial court convicted several persons including the Sengar brothers for culpable homicide not amounting to murder for their role in the causing the death of the rape victim's father. The trial court had found that Jaideep Singh Senger was “enjoying the sadistic pleasure” of thrashing of the victim’s father and it was under his patronage that the man was paraded throughout the village..Senger had approached the High Court for a suspension of his prison sentence arguing that he was diagnosed with mouth-cancer and that even after an operation, his condition is bad. It was stated that he needed physiotherapy which is not available in the prison.The counsel appearing for Senger contended that he has already spent three years in jail out of the ten-year sentence awarded and that the sentences of five others co-accused have already been suspended..The Court rejected these arguments and said that the convicts whose sentences have been suspended have spent more than half of the total sentence awarded in jail.Justice Sharma also referred to the report prepared by All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) which concluded that the medical condition of Senger is not of a nature that he cannot serve the sentence awarded to him in the jail.“Accordingly, the present application stands dismissed,” the Court ordered.Senger’s appeal against his conviction will be taken up on May 3..The Unnao rape survivor, a minor, was kidnapped and raped by Kuldeep Singh Sengar between June 11 and June 20, 2017. She was then sold for ₹60,000, after which she was recovered at the Maakhi police station.The survivor was thereafter continuously threatened and warned by the police officials against speaking out, as instructed by Sengar.An FIR finally came to be recorded against Sengar, and he was finally arrested pursuant to an order passed by the Allahabad High Court.The case took a controversial turn after a lorry without a number plate rammed into the car in which the survivor was travelling. The survivor and her lawyer were critically injured, while two of her aunts passed away.In August 2019, the Supreme Court transferred the trial in four cases relating to the Unnao rape case to Delhi and ordered that the same be held on a day-to-day basis and completed within 45 days..Senior Advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey along with advocates Hemant Shah, SPM Tripathi, Akshay Rana and Deepanshu Nainwa appeared for Jaideep Singh Senger.Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Nikhil Goel and Advocate Kartik Kaushal represented the CBI.Complainant was represented through advocates Mehmood Pracha and Mohd Shameem..[Read Judgment]