Unnao: Supreme Court orders that rape survivor to be shifted to AIIMS Delhi

The Supreme Court today directed that the rape survivor in the Unnao case be shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi on account of her critical medical condition..The lawyer representing the victim and her family mentioned the matter today, after the scheduled hearing concluded. He made the request for the victim’s transfer before the Bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose..It was submitted that the victim is in a critical condition and suffering from pneumonia. The counsel also submitted that the family of the victim wanted her to be shifted to AIIMS Delhi..The Court agreed to the request, subject to the condition that the victim is medically fit enough to be airlifted..When the matter was taken up today, the Court deferred it till Friday, since the lawyer representing the victim and her family was not present at the start of the hearing..Last week, 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..The cases have been transferred from CBI Court, Lucknow to the competent court in Delhi i.e. Court of Dharmesh Sharma, District Judge, West, Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi..A Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose also ordered the payment of Rs 25 lakh as interim compensation to the victim..Further, the case in relation to the accident of the victim and her family, when a lorry rammed into their car, has also been transferred to Delhi. The Court directed that the probe into the said accident case has to be completed within seven days..The Unnao rape case took a controversial turn after a lorry without a number plate rammed into the car in which the victim was travelling. The victim and her lawyer have been critically injured, while two of her aunts passed away..Foul play on the part of BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar – the accused in the rape case – has been alleged by the mother of the victim..Sengar has been in prison since last year. The Allahabad High Court had, in April last year, ordered the arrest of Sengar for raping a 15-year-old girl in 2017. The Court had also directed that the investigation of the case be handed over to the CBI.