The objective of criminal justice has been different in different periods of penological history. But in all the cases, one finds, the criminal is at the centre and the victim is rarely considered, and the punishment means inflicting pain on the wrongdoer. The recent case of four-time BJP MLA, Kuldeep Singh Sengar, in which a Delhi trial court finally convicted the accused legislator for raping a minor girl survivor, however, presents a curious case in which it was the victim who was continuously inflicted pain at different stages of administration of criminal justice system through multiple injustices.
The caustic comment of the trial court on how the country’s premier investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), discharged its duties is telling. “The investigation suffered from patriarchal approach or inherent outlook to brush the issue of sexual violence against the children under the carpet apart from exhibiting lack of sensitivity and humane approach,” the court observed.
Ironically, the CBI was entrusted with the case, after the state police was allegedly going out of the way to help out the high-profile accused in the case that started with reporting “missing” of the minor rape survivor in Bangarmau town of Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh on June 4, 2017.
There was no mention of rape in the initial complaint that was registered by the Unnao police. Two weeks later she was found and a case was registered. No serious action was taken and 10 months later the survivor’s father was attacked by Sengar’s brother and his henchmen. Cases were filed by both the parties but only the survivor’s father was arrested and tortured to withdraw the case. While the desperate girl tried to set herself ablaze near the Chief Minister’s residence, her father died in police custody.
It was only after the Allahabad High Court ordered a monitored probe on April 12 that the case was transferred to the CBI and legislator Sengar was arrested. While the case was being investigated, on July 28, 2019, the survivor was severely injured when the car she was travelling in was hit by a truck, killing two of her aunts. The “accident” occurred despite the family’s repeated complaints of intimidation and requests for state protection.
After nationwide outrage, the Supreme Court took cognisance of the case suo moto. On August 12, it ordered the severely injured rape survivor to be shifted to AIIMS in Delhi and provided CRPF protection to the family that was to accompany her. The court also ordered transfer of the case from the CBI court in Lucknow to Delhi for day-to-day trial.
The conviction of Sengar can be seen as the wheels of justice finally moving on the right course. But from the victim’s perspective, the case unfolds a multiple layers of injustices to her. It shows how the protectors of law become tormentors of the victim when a high-profile accused is charged with a crime. It shows how blatantly perverse administration of justice can be to protect those who wield power.
The Unnao rape case might have reached some sort of closure, thanks to fast-tracking of justice by the apex court. But it contains irrefutable evidence of how those in charge of dispensing justice can abuse it with impunity. Preventing a crime is not necessarily proof of the failure of the process of justice. But its inability to ensure fair trial and protect the interests of the victim of a crime is.
yogesh.vajpeyi@gmail.com