New Delhi, 07 June (HS). The Delhi High Court has rejected the petition seeking suspension of the ten-year jail sentence given by the trial court to former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the case of the custodial death of the Unnao rape victim's father. Justice Swarn Kanta Sharma's bench ordered the dismissal of Kuldeep Sengar's petition.
Sengar had filed a petition saying that he has completed about six years of his sentence of ten years imprisonment. The petition said that the prosecution's case is based only on circumstantial evidence. The High Court said that once an accused is convicted, the presumption of innocence ends. The High Court said that while considering the suspension of sentence, the role of the convict in the incident and the gravity of the crime are taken into consideration.
Sengar has challenged the trial court's decision in the High Court, which is still pending. It is noteworthy that on 16 December 2019, the Tis Hazari Court sentenced Kuldeep Singh Sengar to ten years of imprisonment in the case of custodial murder of the rape victim's father. The Tis Hazari Court also imposed a fine of ten lakh rupees on Sengar. The Tis Hazari Court also sentenced all the seven accused, including Sengar, to ten years of imprisonment and a fine of ten lakh rupees each.
The rape victim's father died in judicial custody on 9 April 2018. On 4 June 2017, when the rape victim accused Kuldeep Sengar of rape, Kuldeep Singh Sengar's brother Atul Singh and his companions beat up the victim's father badly and handed him over to the police. A few hours after the rape victim's father was shifted to jail, the girl's father died in the district hospital.
On 20 December 2019, Tis Hazari Court sentenced Sengar to life imprisonment in the case of raping the victim. Apart from life imprisonment, the court imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh. Out of this fine, Rs 10 lakh was ordered to be given to the victim. Kuldeep Singh Sengar has also filed a petition in the Delhi High Court against this decision of Tis Hazari Court.