New Delhi: The survivor in the Unnao rape case and her mother met Congress’s Rahul Gandhi this evening, hours after the elderly woman was manhandled by the Central paramilitary personnel. The meeting took place at the 10 Janpath Road residence of Sonia Gandhi, a day after Rahul Gandhi returned from his visit to Germany. Sonia Gandhi was also present at the meeting, which went on for over an hour. Sources said Rahul Gandhi has given her the assurance that the case will be escalated, justice will be delivered. They will extend all possible help to the family.
The survivor and her mother have been protesting against the Delhi High Court’s relief to former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who has challenged his conviction in the rape case. He will be out of jail till court reaches a decision on his appeal. The paramilitary personnel had not allowed the girl and her mother to address the media and also forced the elderly woman to jump off a moving bus.
The High Court’s decision has generated massive controversy, with the Opposition vehemently criticising the Centre.
Calling the Delhi High Court’s decision “completely shocking”, the survivor said, “We have gone so many years back and forth with the judiciary and this is what the outcome is? We only want one thing, justice. We will appeal to the Supreme Court”.
At the meeting with Gandhi, she said she has full faith in the Supreme Court. The survivor has also appealed to the Prime Minister and expressed her wish to meet him.
The family had three key requests to Gandhi: A top lawyer to fight against Sengar in the Supreme Court; relocation to a Congress-ruled state as they fear being murdered; and a job for the woman’s husband. Gandhi has agreed to help on all points.
In a post on X earlier today, Rahul Gandhi questioned if the survivor was getting mistreated because she has raised her voice against injustice.
“Is such treatment of a gang rape victim justified?” he wrote in Hindi on X. “Bail for rapists and treating survivors like criminals — what kind of justice is this? We are not just becoming a dead economy — with such inhuman incidents, we are also turning into a dead society,” read a rough translation of his post in Hindi.
