Unnao case: At AIIMS, Special Judge holds hearing to record rape survivor’s statement

New Delhi, Sep 11: A judge arrived at Delhi's AIIMS hospital on Wednesday to record the statement of the woman who was allegedly raped by politician Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a former BJP MLA who is also accused of plotting a car crash that left the survivor in a critical state.

The woman's statement is being recorded by District Judge Dharmesh Sharma.

''In-camera'' proceedings are not open to the public and the press.

Sengar, along with co-accused Shashi Singh, was brought to the temporary court at the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS, where the woman is presently admitted following an accident on July 28.

The Delhi High Court had on Friday approved recording the rape survivor's statement at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Trauma Centre.

A notification to this effect was issued by the high court from the administrative side, which said special judge Sharma, who is conducting the trial of the cases, shall record her testimony.

The rape survivor is admitted at AIIMS after she sustained injuries during a road accident in which MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was expelled from BJP, is an accused.

She was air-lifted from a Lucknow hospital to Delhi on the orders of the Supreme Court.

While transferring the cases related to Unnao incident to Delhi, the top court had fixed a time limit of 45 days for the trial court to complete the proceedings.

The top court had earlier said it wanted "fair and speedy trial" in the cases arising out of the rape of the woman, when she was a minor, allegedly by now-expelled BJP legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar in Unnao in 2017.

In July, a truck rammed into the car she was travelling in with some family members and her lawyer. Two of her aunts died in the road accident.

She was airlifted from a hospital in Lucknow and brought to the AIIMS for better care as she continued to be critical.

On August 1, the top court had directed Uttar Pradesh government to provide Rs. 25 lakh to the rape survivor as interim compensation.

It had also directed the state government to pay Rs. 5 lakh to the lawyer, who is in a critical condition and undergoing treatment.

The court had earlier ordered the transfer of all the five related cases in the matter to Delhi but later modified its order putting in abeyance shifting of the accident case till the probe was completed.