BJP’s Kuldeep Singh Sengar sacked days after
car crash left alleged victim critically injured
By Rebecca
Ratcliffe
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Protesters
burn an effigy of Kuldeep Singh Sengar in Kolkata.
Photograph:
Rupak de Chowdhuri/Reuters
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India’s ruling party
has expelled an official accused of rape, days after a deadly car crash left
his alleged victim in critical condition.
Investigators are examining possible links
between Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) lawmaker, who was
accused of raping a teenage girl, and the collision that occurred on Sunday.
Two of the girl’s relatives were killed when
a truck collided with their vehicle. The girl’s lawyer was also seriously
injured. Images from the scene, broadcast on Indian media, showed that the
truck’s number plates had been painted over.
The authorities in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh,
one of India’s poorest states, have been accused of failing to protect the girl
or fairly investigate claims made against the powerful official.
The BJP has also faced increasing criticism
for allowing Singh Sengar to remain in the party, despite being charged under
child protection laws last year. Officials said he had previously been
suspended, but did not specify when this action was taken.
The girl alleged she was raped by Singh
Sengar in June 2017 after going to his house looking for a job. For months the
police refused to register a complaint, according to the family.
In protest at their lack of action, the girl
travelled to Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh, doused herself in
paraffin and attempted to self-immolate. A day later, her father died in police
custody. The family claimed he had been beaten by Singh Sengar and his brother.
After public outrage, Singh Sengar was
arrested last year and has remained in custody. He has denied the allegation of
rape and any involvement in the car crash.
The girl’s mother said the family had
continued to receive constant threats and described Sunday’s collision as “a
conspiracy to eliminate all of us”. The police initially said it appeared to be
an accident, but federal investigators later said it may have been murder.
On Wednesday, the supreme court transferred
all cases linked to the alleged rape to Delhi, a damning indictment of the
justice system in Uttar Pradesh, which has a reputation for lawlessness.
The chief justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi,
ruled that the country’s Central Bureau of Investigation, which is
investigating the crash, must complete its inquiry in seven days, and the rape
case in 45 days, according to reports.
He also said compensation should be paid to
the girl, and that she could be moved to Delhi for treatment, if the family
wished. She remains unconscious and in critical condition with a head injury
and multiple leg fractures.
The case has caused outrage across India,
with many arguing that justice systems offer little protection to vulnerable
people who accuse the powerful. It has also prompted warnings about the
handling of rape allegations, of which there are nearly 40,000 reported each
year.
Campaigners say that while Indian laws
against sexual assault have improved in recent years – prompted by a 2012 Delhi
gang rape which became a catalyst for reform – victims still suffer humiliation
when reporting and officials are often reluctant to register complaints.
