The Unnao rape survivor has moved a Transfer Petition in the Supreme Court of India seeking transfer of a counter case filed against her by the father of Shubham Singh, one of the accused men, facing trial in New Delhi for the gang rape of the minor petitioner.
As an interim relief, the Dalit girl has sought a stay on a non-bailable warrant issued by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Unnao against her, reported Live Law.
The FIR was filed under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of IPC as a counter blast against the minor survivor, her uncle and her mother.
Her petition has highlighted the “clear, grave and real risk” to the personal safety and life of the petitioner if she is forced to appear before and face a criminal trial in Unnao district, where she was repeatedly raped and gang raped in 2017 by politically powerful men, according to Live Law.
Former BJP MLA, Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was convicted for raping the petitioner, was also convicted for murdering petitioner’s father in connivance with police officers of Makhi village in Unnao district. In fact, in 2019, when the Dalit girl was travelling from Delhi to Unnao, she met with a gruesome road accident in which two of her aunts passed away and she, along with her lawyer was severely injured. The Supreme Court, in 2019, had recognized the grave threat to her and her family’s life and had directed that all cases related to the rape of the petitioner and the murder of her father be transferred to Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi from Lucknow.
The Dalit survivor and her family were also provided protection by a C.R.P.F battalion.
The petition was settled by Adv. Vrinda Grover.
The proceedings initiated against the Dalit girl have been done with ulterior motives to prop up a defense against POCSO charges made out against the accused and intimidate and harass the survivor, according to the petition.
“If the petitioner is forced to face trial in Unnao, it is very likely that the same would be an abuse of legal process to serve oblique motives and thwart the administration of justice in the ongoing criminal trial in New Delhi against Shubham Sharma and others,” read the petition.
