Although Sengar had no criminal case against him until he was accused of rape, the ruling party legislator is a known muscleman in state politics.
It is in the fitness of things that the Uttar Pradesh government has ordered the CBI to probe the accident involving the Unnao rape survivor. Her two aunts have died while she and her lawyer were critically injured and are battling for life. The main accused in the rape case is BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who has now been charged with murder for the accident. The Unnao rape case came to light in April last year when the survivor tried to immolate herself in front of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence.
She took this step to draw attention to the police’s refusal to take action against Sengar even though she was allegedly raped in 2017. Since then there have been several twists and turns in the case. Days after the survivor’s complaint, her father was arrested and allegedly beaten to death by Sengar’s brother and his accomplices in police custody. The CBI was asked to investigate both the rape case as well as the death in police custody. It filed charge sheets in both the cases in July last year but the trial in neither case has started. Days after the charge sheet was filed, there was yet another twist. Mohammad Yunus, a key witness in the case, died under “mysterious circumstances”.
All this brings into question the issue of criminalisation of politics. Although Sengar had no criminal case against him until he was accused of rape, the ruling party legislator is a known muscleman in state politics. It is said it is because of his clout that he managed to win successive elections since 2002 despite switching political loyalties often. While this is the first criminal case against Sengar, the rising number of criminal-politicians entering Parliament and state Assemblies is a matter of huge concern. According to the Association of Democratic Reforms, 43% of the newly elected Lok Sabha members face criminal charges, up 26% since 2014. Last year, the Supreme Court asked Parliament to pass a law to ensure that persons facing serious criminal cases do not enter politics. Will our lawmakers bite the bullet?