NEW DELHI, Dec 24: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met the Unnao rape survivor here on Wednesday after she allegedly faced ill-treatment for raising her voice against the bail granted to convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar, and said India is not just becoming a dead economy, but also a dead society.
Rahul Gandhi met the rape survivor at his mother Sonia Gandhi’s 10, Janpath residence after the woman staged a protest in Delhi against the bail granted by the Delhi High Court to the convict in the case, expelled BJP leader Sengar.
Accompanied by her mother, the rape survivor met both Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
The rape survivor and her mother urged Rahul Gandhi to help them get a top lawyer to fight the case against Sengar in the Supreme Court and the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha promised to do that.
Sources said the rape survivor also requested Rahul Gandhi to help her and her family members relocate to a Congress-ruled state as they fear persecution and are not confident of their security.
The woman’s husband also requested Gandhi for a better job and the Congress leader assured him that he will look into it, the sources said.
Both Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi assured the rape survivor’s family that they will do everything in their capacity to ensure that they get justice and security, the sources added.
“I have sought justice. I have been wanting to meet the prime minister. Rahulji lauded me for my fight for justice and assured me of help,” the rape survivor told reporters after meeting the Gandhis and said no one from the government has met them.
“We will go to the Supreme Court to seek justice and have sought Rahulji’s help,” she said.
“This is the first order of its kind where a sentence has been stopped and bail given. There is fear in the minds of all women. What kind of government is this?” she asked.
Separately, Rahul Gandhi said the rape survivor should be treated with respect and that justice should be ensured to her, instead of subjecting her to injustice and fear.
“Is such treatment of a gang-rape survivor appropriate? Is it her ‘fault’ that she has the courage to raise her voice for justice?
“The fact that her perpetrator (former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Sengar) has been granted bail is extremely disappointing and shameful — especially when the survivor is being repeatedly harassed and is living under the shadow of fear,” the former Congress chief said in a post in Hindi on X.
“Bail for rapists and treating survivors like criminals — what kind of justice is this? We are not just becoming a dead economy — with such inhuman incidents, we are also turning into a dead society,” he added.
The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said in a democracy, raising a voice of dissent is a right and suppressing it is a crime.
“The survivor deserves respect, safety and justice — not helplessness, fear and injustice,” he asserted.
The 2017 Unnao rape survivor on Wednesday termed the Delhi High Court’s decision to suspend the jail term of Sengar “kaal” (death) for her family and said she would move the Supreme Court against the order.
The rape survivor and her mother staged a protest near Mandi House here against the court verdict granting bail to Sengar.
In its order on Tuesday, the high court directed that Sengar shall not come within the five-kilometre radius of the victim’s residence and threaten the survivor or her mother. It also said a violation of the conditions would automatically lead to the cancellation of his bail.
Sengar, however, will remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year term in connection with the custodial death of the rape survivor’s father and has not been granted bail in that case.
The survivor was a minor when she was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017. (PTI)
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