New Delhi [India], December 26 : A group of women activists and protesters gathered outside the Delhi High Court on Friday to oppose the conditional bail granted to former Uttar Pradesh MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the Unnao rape case.
Raising slogans against the court order and the government, the protesters termed the bail a "setback to women's justice" and demanded its immediate reconsideration.
The protestors, many of them women, assembled in significant numbers and shouted slogans questioning the decision to suspend Sengar's sentence.
Police personnel were deployed in large numbers, and protesters were asked to remain peaceful as restrictions under the law were imposed in the area.
Addressing the gathering, women activist Yogita Bhayana said the protest was a peaceful appeal against what she described as grave injustice.
"Today, we have come to the High Court peacefully to appeal that the injustice done to our daughter be revoked and that the petition we are about to file be heard. If we do not get justice, we will protest and that is our right," she said.
Congress leader Mumtaz Patel also criticised the order, calling it a dangerous precedent. "This is a huge setback. The way the High Court has given Sengar a free pass on a technicality will shake the confidence of not just the victim's family but women across the country," she remarked.
The victim's mother, speaking emotionally, rejected the bail outright and announced plans to approach the Supreme Court.
"His bail should be rejected. We will knock on the doors of the Supreme Court. We have lost faith in the High Court. If we don't get justice there, we will go to another country," she said, also demanding strict punishment in the custodial death of her husband.
Recently, the Delhi High Court granted a suspension of sentence to Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case. Sengar, who was convicted by a Delhi CBI court and sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of a minor, has challenged his conviction before the High Court, where his appeal is presently pending.
A Division Bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar ordered suspension of sentence during the pendency of the appeal, subject to Sengar furnishing a bail bond of Rs 15 lakh.
However, the Court clarified that he will remain in judicial custody as he has not been granted bail in the separate case relating to the custodial death of the victim's father, in which he was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.
The Court imposed strict conditions while granting relief, directing that Sengar shall not enter a five-kilometre radius of the area where the victim resides in Delhi. He has also been ordered to remain in Delhi and to have no contact with the victim or her family members.
Senior Advocate N Hariharan, along with Advocate SP Tripathi, appeared for Sengar and argued that he was not a public servant at the time of the offence. It was also contended that there were discrepancies in documents regarding the victim's age and that medical evidence should be relied upon.
Opposing the bail, Advocate Mehmood Pracha, appearing for the victim, submitted that there had been serious threats to the victim's life in the past. He pointed out that the victim was earlier provided security, which was later withdrawn, and highlighted that her father was assaulted in police custody and later died due to his injuries, a case in which Sengar was separately convicted.
The protest concluded with calls for stronger safeguards for survivors of sexual violence and demands that courts exercise greater caution while granting relief in cases involving serious crimes against women.