Opinion With suspension of Kuldeep Sengar’s life sentence, no cheer for daughters of the Republic
This Christmas, playing Santa felt hollow in an India where justice bends before power, and the future of girls looks ever more uncertain
Protest against any form of oppression in a peaceful manner is central to democracy and the Gandhian path The year-end festive season was heralded, and a merry Christmas was in the air. Given my recently minted grandfather status, I was also drawn into the revelry. As a septuagenarian with a white beard, I had to play the local Santa Claus despite my reservations — arising, perhaps, from images of Santas being toppled by goons in public places. But I also realised, like many fathers before me, that daughters become very different — irrational and, on occasion, dictatorial — once they transition to motherhood. “Dad, you have no choice…”
But I remained ambivalent about how merry one could be on this Christmas eve. The Gaza genocide, war in Ukraine, carnage in parts of Africa, turmoil in Bangladesh, girls being denied education in Afghanistan, hazardous air pollution levels — it was a litany of bleakness.
With two days to go for jingle bells, the tipping point was reached on December 23, when the Delhi High Court suspended the life sentence of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was convicted of kidnapping and raping a minor girl in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, and granted him conditional bail. The CBI has moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the HC order, which it describes as “contrary to law”. The rationale for the HC’s decision was a textual interpretation of the law, noting that an MLA does not qualify as a “public servant” as defined by the Indian Penal Code for certain aggravated POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) provisions. It also noted that he had already served over seven years in jail.
Sengar is also serving another sentence for being involved in the custodial death of the father of the survivor (who was a minor when she was gang-raped in 2017). While he is still in jail pending appeal for that conviction, the High Court ruling on the POCSO conviction sparked outrage.
The Unnao rape case is widely regarded as one of the most sordid in recent Indian history due to its combination of brutal sexual violence against a minor, blatant abuse of political power, systematic intimidation and elimination of witnesses/family members, institutional failures (police and initial investigations) and a prolonged struggle for justice that exposed deep flaws in the system. It needed a Supreme Court intervention in July 2019 to fast-track the case and transfer it from UP to a Delhi court.
Clearly, justice remains elusive. What is heart-rending is also the fact that the survivor, along with her mother and activist Yogita Bhayana, was not allowed to protest at India Gate after the High Court ruling this week. The Delhi Police intervened and forcibly removed them from the site. The three were detained briefly at the local police station and then released.
The inference is deeply disturbing. A young girl was gang-raped by the local MLA, her father and other family members were killed while others were threatened with dire consequences by the Sengar henchmen, and when the victim tried to protest the ruling that suspended his sentence at the iconic Indian Gate, she was handled with callousness by the police, whose role is to protect the vulnerable and apprehend the culprit.
In India today, the ecosystem meant to protect the rights of the vulnerable has been subverted to favour the oppressor. The Sengar case is the tip of the iceberg; other worthies include Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh (the chief of Dera Sacha Sauda), Asaram Bapu (the self-styled godman) and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh (former BJP MP and chief of the Wrestling Federation of India). The political patronage extended either directly or tacitly to those accused of or convicted of sexual assault makes a mockery of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of “beti bachao (save the daughter)”. NCRB data shows that there has been a 32 per cent rise in crimes against women in the period from 2014 to 2023, and the trend is on the rise.
Protest against any form of oppression in a peaceful manner is central to democracy and the Gandhian path, but India in 2025 has the dubious distinction of not allowing citizens to protest — either against the hazardous air quality of the national capital or a court ruling in a gang-rape case.
In January, the Republic will enter its 77th year. To remain vibrant and realise its potential, the state has to be more empathetic to its most vulnerable and precious demography – women and girls.
Meanwhile, I am yet to don the Santa cape and lurch from despondency to despair, thinking about what the future holds for India’s myriad granddaughters.
The writer is director, Society for Policy Studies
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