His daughter alleged he was tortured in jail.
In less than 24 hours after attempting suicide by a rape victim along with family members outside Chief Minister House on Sunday, her father Surendra Singh alias Pappu, died under mysterious circumstances in Unnao district Hospital on Monday morning.
Taking serious note of the custodial death, the Yogi Adityanth government has instituted a judicial probe into the death of the rape victim’s father and suspended five police men, including SHO Makhi Police Station. Four accomplices of the BJP MLA, who had allegedly beaten the deceased to death, have been arrested by the Unnao Police.
“A judicial probe by a magistrate has been ordered into the custodial death. A team of three doctors would conduct the post-mortem. The DG Jails has been directed to submit a detailed report. The Unnao police has arrested four accused in the case,” said Arvind Kumar, Principal Secretary Home.
On April 3, the rape victim’s father was allegedly dragged from his house and beaten by the goons of Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the BJP MLA from Bangermau in Unnao. Sengar and his brother are accused of raping his daughter in June last year for eight days. The deceased’s wife Asha alleged that her husband was being pressurized to withdraw the rape case against the MLA and his brother.
“When my husband refused to withdraw the case, BJP MLA’s brother and three others thrashed my husband mercilessly on April 3. Instead of registering a case against them, the Makhi Police arrested my injured husband in fake cases and lodged him in jail. My husband was murdered by the BJP MLA and his men in the jail,” charged Asha.
“The entire village had seen how badly my father was beaten. He was tortured in the jail too and denied medical help. For the past eight days, we have been running around to save my father but today we got his body. The Chief Minister is also responsible for the death of my father,” charged the rape victim.
Doctors who attended to the deceased in Unnao hospital claimed that the victim bore serious injury marks on his body. “He was under acute pain and vomiting perhaps due to internal injuries and haemorrhaging,” said Dr Atul Kumar.
“A girl going to coaching classes is shot in daylight. A woman alleging rape against BJP MLA attempts suicide outside CM’s House. Girls and women are being terrorised and feel unsecure under the ‘encounter-spree’ government,” tweeted Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav, demanding arrest of the BJP MLA.
Stunned by the custodial death of the rape victim’s father, the state government was seen scurrying for cover for failing to initiate action on Sunday when the rape victim and her family had come to meet the Chief Minister to seek justice and attempted suicide bid.
The BJP Spokesperson Srikant Sharma promised to initiate action against the accused once the inquiry report is submitted. “Those accused of beating her father have already been arrested and five policemen suspended for unfair probe,” said Sharma. He, however, remained non-committal on the arrest of the BJP MLA from Unnao Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the main accused in rape case.
Significantly, like four BJP Dalit MPs who have raised a banner of revolt against their own government, Kuldeep Singh Sengar too is a turncoat. He had won the 2007 and 2012 Assembly elections
from Bangermau in Unnao from Samajwadi Party ticket. He had joined the BJP just before 2017 assembly elections and won on the BJP ticket again.
