Unnao rape victim accident: CBI books suspended BJP MLA for murder

The CBI has booked BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and 10 others on murder charges in the accident case of Unnao rape survivor, officials said on Wednesday.

Immediately after filing the FIR, a team of officers from the CBI's Lucknow unit reached the crime scene in Gurubakshganj area of Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli district, where the accident took place.

According to the normal procedure, the CBI has taken over the investigation in the case from the Uttar Pradesh Police by re-registering its FIR.

The FIR was first registered on a complaint by Mahesh Singh, the victim's uncle who is lodged in a Rae Bareli prison.

Singh had alleged that the family was under constant pressure from the kin of Sengar, the BJP MLA from Bangarmau constituency, after his suspension from the party. They had been threatening to kill the entire family if the case against him was not withdrawn.

He had also alleged that complaints by the victim's family were not paid heed to by the local police, the FIR said.

The CBI team will also meet officials of the local police station in Rae Bareli, the officials said.

On Tuesday, the Centre handed over the probe to the CBI on the recommendation of the Uttar Pradesh government. The state government has come under severe criticism for failing to provide security to the 19-year-old woman who was allegedly raped by the BJP MLA in 2017 when she was a minor.

On Sunday, the car in which the rape survivor was travelling with her family members and lawyer was hit by an over-speeding truck in Rae Bareli. Two of the victim's aunts were killed, while she and her lawyer were critically injured in the accident.

The number plate of the truck, which was coming from the opposite direction on the wrong side, was smeared with black paint.

The Uttar Pradesh Police had on Monday filed a murder case against Sengar and nine others after the rape survivor's family filed a complaint, alleging "conspiracy" behind the car crash.