Father of woman ‘raped’ by UP BJP MLA dies in police custody, CM Yogi orders prob

The father of an 18-year-old girl, who attempted suicide outside Yogi Adityanath’s residence allegedly after being raped by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, died while in judicial custody in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district on Monday.

Pappu Singh, around 50, was in police custody since April 5 after a complaint was filed against him by his daughter’s alleged rapists.

He was rushed to a hospital from the district jail on Sunday night and died during the treatment on Monday. The family accused that he was killed by the BJP MLA and his younger brother Atul Singh Sengar with the help of police.

Two police officers and four constables have been suspended and the accused of beating Singh have also been arrested, said Pushpanjali Devi, SP, Unnao.

"The incident happened while the man was in judicial custody. A magisterial inquiry will be conducted. If there have been lapses by the police, action will be taken," Deputy Inspector General of Police Pravin Kumar said.

Early on Sunday, daughter of the deceased attempted suicide outside UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence after police failed to take any action against the BJP lawmaker and his brothers who allegedly gang-raped her.

Also Read | Woman alleges rape by BJP MLA, attempts suicide outside Yogi Adityanath’s house

“I was raped. I have been running pillar to post for the last one year but no one is listening to me. I want to see all of them arrested, otherwise, I will kill myself. I had even approached the CM to no result. When we lodged an FIR, we were threatened,” the victim said.

Reacting to the incident, CM Adityanath ordered a probe and assured that guilty won't be spared. 

"It is an unfortunate incident. ADG Lucknow has been asked to probe the matter thoroughly. Those at fault, whoever they might be, will not be spared," Adityanath said.

The police, however, claimed that it has probed the case and found out that the victim’s family was having a dispute with the MLA.

“The family has accused Sengar of raping her. While probing the case, we learnt that both parties were in a dispute for the last 10-12 years,” said Rajiv Krishnan, Additional Directorate General of Police (ADG) of Lucknow.

Reacting to the woman's accusations, Sengar said the allegations were intended to defame him and termed the suicide attempt a “pre-planned” move.

“This is a pre-planned incident. There was an incident in their family, case was registered. Police saved 2 innocent people, being made scapegoat by them,” the BJP MLA said.

“These people thought I helped them & they haven’t left any platform to defame me. I request the administration to probe this well & punish the real culprit,” he added.