BJP MLA’s brother arrested for assaulting Unnao rape victim’s father who died in judicial custody
The woman’s father, who was in judicial custody, was taken to a hospital after he complained of abdominal pain. He died on Monday.
The Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday arrested the brother of a Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker in connection with the death of a rape victim’s father on Monday, an official said. The father was allegedly attacked by lawmaker’s brother and his aides.
Police spokesperson Rahul Srivastava said a special team led by assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Dinesh Singh arrested Atul Singh Sengar, the brother of Kuldeep Singh Sengar of Unnao’s Bangarmau constituency, from his hideout in the adjoining Unnao district.
Srivastava said Atul Singh Sengar was arrested for attacking the 18-year-old woman’s father on April 3 that caused his death later. He said the charges of voluntarily causing hurt, culpable homicide and criminal intimidation have been slapped against the MLA’s brother.
READ: All that has happened in Unnao rape case, a timeline
He added that the state’s director general of police OP Singh had ordered his arrest immediately after an “analysis of the facts”.
The father of the woman allegedly raped by Kuldeep Singh Sengar died on Monday, hours after he collapsed in prison where he had been detained after being assaulted by men purportedly connected to the MLA.
The state government announced a magisterial investigation after the alleged rape victim said her father had been murdered in prison. She had on Sunday attempted suicide in front of chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence, alleging inaction on the part of police in filing a case against the BJP member.
“He was killed at the behest of the BJP MLA inside the jail,” the woman told reporters on Monday. “We were getting threats and they killed my father”.
Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his aides were accused of rape by the woman last year, but he has not been formally named by police in the rape case.
Sengar rejected the charge as a conspiracy by opponents and said the complainant belonged to a “low class”, even as six policemen were suspended and Adityanath assured that the guilty will not be spared.
