PDP president Mehbooba Mufti
NEW DELHI: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday criticised the suspension of the life sentence of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, saying “leniency in brutal rape cases has been normalised under BJP Raj.”“The Delhi High Court’s suspension of the life sentence of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar sends a chilling message to the rape survivor,” said Mufti in a post on X.“Sadly, this is nothing new as leniency in brutal rape cases has been normalised under BJP Raj , and even protesting against such decisions has been criminalised, with protesters being brutally and forcibly removed,” she added. Her remarks came after the Delhi High Court on Tuesday suspended Sengar’s life sentence in the 2017 Unnao rape case while his appeal against the conviction remains pending. Sengar has challenged a December 2019 trial court verdict that convicted and sentenced him in the case.The high court, while suspending the sentence, imposed several conditions. Sengar was directed to furnish a personal bond of Rs 15 lakh with three sureties of the same amount. He was also barred from entering within a five-kilometre radius of the survivor’s residence in Delhi and from threatening her or her mother. The court said any violation of these conditions would lead to the cancellation of bail.Despite the suspension of the life sentence, Sengar will continue to remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year sentence in the custodial death case of the rape survivor’s father and has not been granted bail in that matter.Meanwhile, a plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court’s order suspending Sengar’s jail term in the Unnao rape case.
