Kuldeep Singh Sengar is an Indian politician and former member of Legislative Assembly belonging to the Bhartiya Janta Party from Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh who has been convicted of rape, murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation.[1] He is the main defendant in the Unnao rape case and was booked under the POCSO Act.[2][3][4][5] He is also accused of killing three people, including the victim's father in police custody and later her aunts by a conspired truck accident. A Delhi District and Sessions Court upheld an investigation conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that had ruled out any foul play in the Unnao rape survivor's accident in 2019.[6]

Kuldeep Singh Sengar
Member (MLA) of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
In office
2017–2019
Preceded byBadlu Khan
Succeeded byShrikant Katiyar
ConstituencyBangarmau
In office
2012–2017
Preceded byKripa Shankar Singh
Succeeded byHriday Narayan Dikshit
ConstituencyBhagwant Nagar
In office
2007–2012
Preceded byRam Shanker
Succeeded byBadlu Khan
ConstituencyBangarmau
In office
2002–2007
Preceded byRam Kumar
Succeeded byDeepak Kumar
ConstituencyUnnao
Personal details
Born (1966-03-20) 20 March 1966 (age 58)
Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Political partyBhartiya Janta Party (2017–2019)
Other political
affiliations
Samajwadi Party (2007–2017)
Bahujan Samaj Party (2002–2007)
Indian National Congress (till 2002)
OccupationPolitician

Political career

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Sengar started his political career with Indian National Congress (INC) in the early 1990s.[7] In 2002, he was a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate, winning the election from Unnao with 24% of the votes. It was the first time BSP won that seat. After being expelled from BSP due to alleged anti-party activities,[8] he joined Samajwadi party and won a seat from Bangermau in 2007 (28% of the votes) and Bhagwant Nagar in 2012 (33% of the votes).[9] In 2015, Kuldeep Singh's wife Sangeeta Singh won the election of District Panchayat chief as an Independent against Samajwadi Party after which the party had estrangement with him and started seeing him as a rebel.[citation needed] He joined Bharatiya Janata Party in 2017 to contest the elections. He won the election from Bangermau, a seat BJP has never won before, with 43% of the votes polled.[10] He had held this seat earlier under Samajwadi Party (2007–2012). He has won 4 legislative elections from Unnao region on three different party tickets and has won every time.

Rape, attempted murder, murder charge, arrest, expulsion

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Rape charges

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Sengar raped a 16-year-old teen in Unnao, who approached him asking for a job on 4 June 2017.[citation needed] On 13 April 2018, he was taken in by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for questioning.[11][12] Allahabad High Court took suo moto cognizance of the case and ordered his immediate arrest by the CBI.[13] First Information Reports (FIR) were lodged and Sengar was kept in judicial custody for a week.[14][15][16] The CBI corroborated the victim's charge of rape.[17] He was booked under 4 sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences.[2] In December 2019, he was convicted of kidnapping and raping a minor.[18]

Murder and attempt to murder charges

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On 28 July 2019, two of the victim's aunts were killed, and the victim and her lawyer critically injured, when a truck rammed the car they were travelling in. Sengar has been booked for murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, and criminal intimidation. The police FIR lists 10 persons including Sengar's brother Manoj Singh Sengar, Sashi Singh and his aides.[3][19][20][21]

Expulsion from BJP

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Sengar was suspended from the BJP political party following the rape. In a statement, the State BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh said "Sengar was suspended by the party earlier and there is no change in his status. There is no change in the position of the party and the government, which is standing with the victim of the Unnao (rape) case."[22] The demand for his expulsion from the ruling BJP grew, led by Congress Party leader Priyanka Gandhi and later joined in by other opposition party leaders.[22]

In August 2019, after facing massive public and political outrage, the state and the Centre led BJP government finally expelled him from the party.[23] The suspension and later expulsion did not automatically disqualify him as a legislator. He is not a part of any legislative committee.[24] [25]

Previous criminal activities

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Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant (IPC Section-188).[26]

Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty (IPC Section-353): Police Station- Hasanganj Dist. Unnao, U.P.[26]

Electoral history

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Kuldeep Singh Sengar has been elected 4 times as MLA.

# From To Position Party
1. 2002 2007 MLA (1st term) from Unnao BSP
2. 2007 2012 MLA (2nd term) from Bangarmau Samajwadi Party
3. 2012 2017 MLA (3rd term) from Bhagwant Nagar Samajwadi Party
4. 2017 2019 MLA (4th term) from Bangarmau BJP

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar Convicted In Unnao Rape Case". NDTV.com. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Unnao rape case: FIR filed against Kuldeep Singh Sengar; BJP MLA booked under 4 sections of IPC, POSCO Act". Firstpost. 12 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Unnao rape survivor accident: BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar among 10 named in FIR".
  4. ^ "India Ruling Party Lawmaker Arrested on Rape Allegation". The New York Times. 14 April 2018.
  5. ^ Shukla, Srawan (30 May 2018). "Unnao gang-rape and murder: Jolt to BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar after Allahabad HC rejects bail plea". DNA India.
  6. ^ Mishra, Utkarsh. "Court upholds CBI probe ruling out foul play in Unnao victim's accident". Rediff. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Unnao rape case: Rise and fall of Kuldeep Singh Sengar". India Today. Ist. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  8. ^ "From village chief to MLA, Unnao rape accused Sengar's clout grew quickly". Hindustan Times. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  9. ^ Rampal, Nikhil. "What took BJP so long to expel Sengar? Hint: Votes". India Today. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  10. ^ Verma, Lalmani (10 April 2018). "Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a turncoat who knows the art of winning elections". Indian Express.
  11. ^ "Rape-Accused BJP Lawmaker Kuldeep Singh Sengar Taken In For Questioning By CBI". NDTV.com. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  12. ^ "Allahabad High Court Orders Arrest Of BJP Lawmaker Kuldeep Singh Sengar". NDTV.com. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  13. ^ "Arrest BJP's Kuldeep Sengar, Says High Court, Raps Yogi Adityanath Government". NDTV.com. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Unnao rape case: Accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar arrested by CBI – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  15. ^ "BJP's Kuldeep Singh Sengar Sent To 7 Days' CBI Custody In Unnao Rape Case". NDTV.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Unnao rape case: CBI makes second arrest". The Hindu. PTI. 14 April 2018. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  17. ^ "CBI confirms rape charge against Unnao MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  18. ^ Ng, Kate (16 December 2019). "Indian politician found guilty of raping young woman in case where multiple witnesses died". The Independent. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  19. ^ "Unnao rape survivor accident: BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar among 10 named in FIR".
  20. ^ "Shashi Singh | Latest News on Shashi Singh | Breaking Stories and Opinion Articles". Firstpost. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  21. ^ "Unnao rape case: CBI arrests Shashi Singh, woman who lured victim to Kuldeep Sengar". India Today. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  22. ^ a b "Kuldeep Sengar suspended from party long ago: U.P. BJP chief". The Hindu. PTI. 30 July 2019. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  23. ^ "Unnao rape accused MLA Kuldeep Sengar reportedly expelled from BJP". The Hindu.
  24. ^ "'Suspension no ground for Sengar's disqualification from House': UP assembly speaker". Hindustan Times. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  25. ^ "Members of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly". uplegisassembly.gov.in. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  26. ^ a b "Kuldeep Singh Sengar(Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)):Constituency- BANGERMAU(UNNAO) – Affidavit Information of Candidate". myneta.info. Retrieved 22 October 2019.