Unnao rape case: CBI cites lapses, recommends appropriate action against four officials
New Delhi: The CBI has recommended "appropriate action" against four officials, including an IAS officer, citing lapses in handling the case of rape of a minor girl by former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, officials said Wednesday.
The central agency, in its letter to the UP Government in August, has named the then DM Unnao and IAS officer Aditi Singh, the then Superintendent of Police and IPS officers Pushpanjali Devi and Neha Pandey posted in Unnao between 2017 and 2018 besides ASP Ashtbhuja Singh who was promoted to IPS in 2019, they said.
In its letter, the agency has underlined lapses in handling the rape case of the minor at Sengar's residence in Makhi village, Bangarmau, Unnao by the MLA and subsequent harassment of the family by his henchmen, they said.
The CBI has not sought any disciplinary action instead it has only highlighted the lapses under these officers and left it on the Uttar Pradesh Government to take "appropriate action" in the light of the agency's observations, they said.
Aditi Singh, a 2009-batch IAS officer, is presently the DM of Hapur. She was posted as DM, Unnao between January 24, 2017 and October 25, 2017 and the victim had written a number of letters to her about the trauma suffered by her at the hands of the powerful ruling party MLA but no substantial action was taken, they said.
Neha Pandey, a 2009 batch IPS officer, is presently posted as Assistant Director in the Intelligence Bureau. She was the Superintendent of Police in Unnao between February, 2016 and October, 2017 and allegedly ignored plea of minor girl who was raped in June, 2017, they said.
Pushpanjali Devi, a 2006 batch IPS officer and presently DIG railways, succeeded Pandey and remained SP in the district till April 30, 2018. She also allegedly did not pay any heed to prayers of the victim whose father was also framed in an arms act case and was beaten to death in the jail in April, 2018, they said.
The then ASP Ashtbhuja Singh, now posted as Commandant PAC Fatehpur, was also posted in Unnao during the period but allegedly did not take adequate action on the complaints against Sengar, they said.
Last year in December, a Delhi court had convicted Sengar for raping the minor girl in Unnao in 2017 saying the victim's testimony was "truthful and unblemished" against a "powerful person".
The court had sentenced Sengar to life imprisonment for rape under the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act for offence of a public servant committing penetrative sexual assault against child.
Convicting Sengar, 53, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the court had said the CBI proved that the victim was a minor.
"I found her statement truthful and unblemished that she was sexually assaulted. She was under threat, worried. She is a village girl, not from cosmopolitan educated area... Sengar was powerful person. So she took her time..," the judge had said.
The court had noted that after the victim wrote letter to the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, several criminal cases were filed against her family and "imprints of Sengar" were visible in them.
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Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
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The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
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"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
