Unnao Rape Convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar No More An MLA: UP Assembly Cancels Membership

Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-MLA and rape convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s membership in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) assembly has been formally dissolved with a notification issued by Principal Secretary Vidhan Sabha Pradeep Kumar Dubey, News18 reported.

Sengar was sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Unnao rape case by a Delhi Court on 20 December, 2019.

The notification read, Sengar’s membership will be considered over from the day of announcement of his sentence, and the Bangarmau seat, which he represented, will now be considered vacant.

The former BJP member was expelled from the party in August last year after he was accused of raping a minor girl in Unnao.

The Delhi Court had found him guilty in the case and fined him with Rs 25 lakh along with the life term in jail.

"He is a public servant...There was betrayal of faith that people put in him. All possible coercive measures were taken to harm and silence the victim," Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma had said while awarding the sentence under the Prevention of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO).

"Considering all the aspects, life imprisonment, and fine of Rs 25 lakh, of which Rs 10 lakh to the victim and Rs 15 lakh to the prosecution."

"Girl and her family have already been provided with home for one year. Thereafter, I am asking CBI to assess the threat measures and all possible efforts to protect her and provide her a shelter after the current shelter lapses," the court said.

The case dates back to 2017 when a minor was first kidnapped and then raped by Sengar. The local police had not filed any complaints the in the matter until the victim tried to kill herself outside UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s official residence in Lucknow.