New Delhi: Situation became tense this morning outside a courtroom at Tis Hazari District Courts Complex here as soon as lawyers were told that the judge would pronounce at 3 pm the verdict in the sensational 2017 Unnao rape case.
District Judge Dharmesh Sharma convicted expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the case for raping a woman in 2017, when she was a minor.
Family members and relatives of Sengar and female co-accused Shashi Singh, who was acquitted by the court, flocked the hall outside the courtroom for the judgement.
While some said it is a case of acquittal for the defence have concrete evidence against the prosecution, others said even if it is conviction, they will challenge it in the higher courts.
One of the police officer who was in-charge of the security at the court premises said the exact date and time should not be made public in the media as crowd control becomes difficult.
At around 2:15 PM the proceedings started with the judge asking for some clarifications from the counsel for the CBI and the accused. No one except the lawyers of both the parties and media personnel were allowed inside the courtroom.
Sengar and Singh were brought to the courtroom amidst high security, including about 20 officials from the Delhi police, CRPF and female police officers, at 2:45 PM.
Moments after the judgement was pronounced convicting Sengar, his family members broke down. As the MLA’s sister entered the courtroom and broke down beside him, the MLA too shed a few tears.
Sengar’s sister was seen crying before the pronouncement of the verdict too as she had heard from one of her relatives that there were possibilities of her brother’s conviction. His brother-in-law and around 20 other relatives from his village broke down too outside the courtroom.
Meanwhile, as the judge started pronouncing the verdict of Singh, she fainted. When she was brought to her senses, she started crying inconsolably. The judge told her she was acquitted and then asked if needed to call a doctor and ensure she was fine.
While Sengar was taken out from the courtroom to the lockup, the crowd gathered outside tried to follow him but the situation was managed with the intervention of his lawyer.
Sengar’s two daughters also burst into tears as their aunt tried to console them that their father did not do anything wrong and the fight was not over. “The judgement was wrong and unfair. The fight is not over. We will fight,” she told them.
The convict’s lawyers said they will appeal against the verdict at higher courts.
The trial which started August 5 this year after it was transferred from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi on the Supreme Court’s directions, was carried on a day-to-day basis.
The court convicted Sengar, saying the rape survivor’s testimony was “truthful and unblemished” against a “powerful person.”
It convicted Sengar for rape under the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act for offence by a public servant committing penetrative sexual assault against a child.
The court will hear arguments on quantum of sentence Tuesday. The offences entail maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
PTI
