Rahul Gandhi condemned the court ruling, calling for stricter measures to protect rape survivors.
BY PC Bureau
New Delhi-December 24, 2025: The Unnao rape survivor and her mother met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi this evening at Sonia Gandhi’s residence at 10 Janpath, just hours after the elderly woman was reportedly manhandled by Central paramilitary personnel. The meeting comes a day after Rahul Gandhi returned from Germany.
The survivor and her mother have been protesting the Delhi High Court’s decision to grant conditional bail to former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was convicted of raping the minor in 2019. Sengar has challenged his conviction and sentence and will remain out of jail until the court delivers its verdict.
Earlier, after the Delhi High Court suspended Sengar’s life sentence, disturbing scenes unfolded in the national capital. Paramilitary personnel prevented the survivor and her mother from addressing the media and forcibly separated them during a protest.
On Tuesday night, the survivor, her mother, and lawyer-activist Yogita Bhayana staged a protest near India Gate, where they were detained. The following morning, they planned to address the media at Mandi House, but the CRPF-escorted bus carrying them did not stop at the venue. Officials said permission had not been granted for protests at India Gate or Mandi House, and the survivors were to be taken either to Jantar Mantar or back to their Delhi residence.
What followed sparked public outrage. Visuals showed the survivor’s elderly mother standing at the open gate of a moving bus as CRPF personnel repeatedly asked her to jump off. Despite the survivor being inside, there were no female CRPF personnel on the bus. After repeated pressure, the mother jumped off the moving vehicle, while the bus drove away with the survivor still inside.
उन्नाव रेप पीड़िता अपनी मां के साथ नेता प्रतिपक्ष राहुल गांधी से मिलने 10 जनपथ पहुंची.. pic.twitter.com/ZXplgxq3mZ
— Ajay Jha (@Ajay_reporter) December 24, 2025
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Speaking to reporters later, the mother alleged mistreatment, saying, “We did not get justice. My daughter has been held captive. It feels like they want to kill us. The CRPF men took my daughter away and dropped me on the road.” The survivor, who was 17 when she was raped in June 2017 in Unnao, questioned the judiciary’s decision. “How can our judiciary do this to us?” she told NDTV, adding that the timing of the relief, ahead of Uttar Pradesh elections, intensified her fears. She said she plans to challenge the High Court’s order in the Supreme Court.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi criticized the forcible removal of the survivor, questioning on X, “Is such treatment of a gang rape survivor appropriate? Is it her fault that she has the courage to raise her voice for justice?” He described the Delhi High Court’s bail to Sengar as “disappointing” and “shameful.”
क्या एक गैंगरेप पीड़िता के साथ ऐसा व्यवहार उचित है?
क्या उसकी “गलती” ये है कि वो न्याय के लिए अपनी आवाज़ उठाने की हिम्मत कर रही है?
उसके अपराधी (पूर्व BJP MLA) को ज़मानत मिलना बेहद निराशाजनक और शर्मनाक है – खासकर तब, जब पीड़िता को बार-बार प्रताड़ित किया जा रहा हो, और वो डर के… https://t.co/BZqrVNXMOy
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 24, 2025
Sengar, a powerful BJP MLA at the time, was expelled from the party after the allegations surfaced. In addition to his rape conviction under the POCSO Act, he was convicted in a separate case related to the custodial death of the survivor’s father, who had been arrested on allegedly fabricated charges.
The Delhi High Court suspended Sengar’s life sentence citing the pre-2019 POCSO Act, stating that an MLA does not qualify as a “public servant” or a person in a “position of trust” under the law at the time of the offence. This reduced the minimum applicable sentence to seven years—a term Sengar has already served.
As part of his bail conditions, Sengar must furnish a personal bond of ₹15 lakh, remain in Delhi, stay at least five kilometres away from the survivor’s residence, have no contact with her or her family, surrender his passport, and report weekly to the police. He will, however, remain in jail to serve a separate 10-year sentence in the custodial death case.
CRPF officials confirmed that the survivor was being taken back to her Delhi residence, where she continues to live under central security cover following years of threats and intimidation.
Despite these developments, the survivor and her supporters say they will continue their legal battle. Her mother said, “We have been fighting for justice for nine years. I lost my husband in this struggle. Police intimidate us, manhandle us, and now this. But we will not give up.”
