'Survivor treated like criminals': Rahul Gandhi on 'manhandling' of Unnao rape victim

The 2017 Unnao rape case survivor was removed from India Gate on Tuesday where she was protesting against the order.

New Delhi: Finding fault with removal of Unnao gangrape survivor from India Gate, top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday asked whether the treatment meted out to her for protesting against a Delhi High Court order suspending the sentence and granting bail to her assaulter was appropriate.

"Is such treatment of a gang rape survivor appropriate? Is it her ‘fault’ that she has the courage to raise her voice for justice? The fact that her perpetrator (former BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar) has been granted bail is extremely disappointing and shameful – especially when the survivor is being repeatedly harassed, and is living under the shadow of fear,” he posted 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. In a democracy, raising a voice of dissent is a right, and suppressing it is a crime. The survivor deserves respect, safety, and justice—not helplessness, fear, and injustice," he said.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday suspended Sengar's sentence and ordered his release on bail pending the disposal of his appeal against his conviction by a trial court in December 2019. He is currently serving life imprisonment in the case.

The 2017 Unnao rape case survivor, who was removed from India Gate on Tuesday where she was protesting against the order, described the decision "kaal (death)" for her family while making it clear that she would move the Supreme Court against it.

Senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat described the order as "highly unfortunate and objectionable" and said, "a man who is convicted of rape of a minor and also of the murder of her family member to intimidate and bully them, that man is now being given bail on the plea that his appeal has not been heard by the court."

"What kind of logic is this? Any convict can go on appealing, it is up to the courts whether they hear the appeal or not. But to give him bail on that ground as though the appeal is going to be upheld by the court. It is a very wrong precedent when women are struggling for justice," she said.