SC directs Unnao rape survivor to be airlifted to Delhi

Unnao rape survivor will be airlifted from Lucknow to New Delhi for better treatment at the AIIMS. The order was passed by the Supreme Court on Monday.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court directed on Monday that the Unnao rape survivor, who suffered critical injuries when her car was hit by a truck last week, be airlifted from Lucknow and brought to New Delhi for better treatment at the AIIMS.

Minutes before the direction, the apex court had deferred the hearing on the transfer of the woman and her injured lawyer, for further hearing on Friday as no one on behalf of their families appeared and sought the transfer.

However, the lawyer representing the family then appeared before a bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose and said the woman's mother now wanted her to be shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for better care as she continued to be critical.

The bench took note of the submissions of lawyer D Ramakrishna Reddy, appearing for the victim, and ordered that she be transferred from the King George's Medical College in Lucknow to the AIIMS.

Fixing the case on Friday, it also made clear that the family of the injured lawyer can also seek the same relief and approach it as and when they need.

The woman, allegedly raped by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor, is battling for life after a truck rammed into the car she was travelling in with some family members and her lawyer. Two of her aunts died in the accident last Sunday.

The bench was informed that Mahesh Singh, uncle of the Unnao rape survivor had been transferred to the Tihar jail in Delhi from a jail in Uttar Pradesh in pursuance of its earlier direction to ensure his safety.

Singh's wife was in the ill-fated car and had died in the accident. He participated in her cremation on Wednesday after the Allahabad High Court granted him parole for a day.

He has been convicted in a 19-year-old case and sentenced to a 10-year jail term on a case filed by Sengar's brother, Atul Singh.

The top court had on Friday put on hold its earlier order transferring the case of the collision from a Lucknow court to Delhi to enable the CBI to complete its investigation.

The order was passed after the CBI told the apex court stating that due to the shifting of the case, the local court was facing a technical hurdle in passing orders of remand for the accused who are being arrested in course of the probe.

Besides the main rape case, the three other matters which were transferred to the national capital are the FIR which was lodged against victim's father under Arms Act, his custodial death and the gang rape of the victim.

The apex court had directed to hold a trial on daily basis and completing it within 45-days along with a direction to all media houses not to disclose the identity of the victim directly, indirectly, or in any manner.

The top court had also directed that the victim, her mother, other members of the family and their lawyer will be provided security by the CRPF and an officer of the level of commandant will file a compliance report forthwith.

Sengar, a four-time legislator who represents Bangermau in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, is the main accused in the rape case and is lodged in jail since April 2018.