Unnao rape case: Supreme Court seeks report on delay in placing victim's letter before CJI
New Delhi: Taking cognisance of Unnao rape victim's letter to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, the Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a report from its secretary general as to why it had not been brought to his notice.
In her letter to the CJI, the 19-year-old woman had expressed apprehension of threat to her life.
"Unfortunately, the letter is yet to see the light of the day and yet the newspapers flashed it as if I have read the letter," Justice Gogoi said.
The bench, also comprising justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, lamented that newspapers gave the impression that no action was taken by the CJI.
"We will do something about this highly volatile situation," the bench said.
The observations came when senior advocate V Giri, who is assisting the court in the suo motu case on alarming rise in child rapes, sought urgent hearing of the Unnao rape case.
The apex also asked the Uttar Pradesh authorities to file a status report by Thursday on the accident of the Unnao rape case victim. It listed the matter for hearing on Thursday.
The 19-year-old woman, who was allegedly raped two years ago by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar at his residence in Unnao, was critically injured in a car crash on Sunday.
She was travelling with her family members and lawyer when their car was hit by a speeding truck in the northern state's Rae Bareli district.
Two of her family members were killed in the accident and her lawyer was seriously injured. The woman's family has filed a complaint alleging "conspiracy" behind the car crash.
A copy of the letter, written by the survivor and two of her family members, was also sent to the Allahabad High Court and Uttar Pradesh government authorities.
The letter claimed that some people, allegedly associated with Sengar, had threatened the victim's family with dire consequences on July 7-8.
It also sought a direction for registration of an FIR against those who allegedly intimidated the family.
The letter, signed by the girl, her mother and aunt, stated that on July 7 Naveen Singh, son of an accused in the case Shashi Singh, brother of another accused Kuldeep Singh and one Kunnu Mishra had visited their house and threatened them. The next day, another person came to their house.
Along with the letter, they said, they were also annexing the video of the car in which these people had come to their house.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
