Unnao rape: Delhi HC to record victim's statement at AIIMS

The Delhi high court on Friday approved recording of statement of the Unnao rape survivor at the trauma centre of All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS).

A notification to this effect was issued by the Delhi high court from the administrative side late in the evening.

It said special judge Dharmesh Sharma, who is conducting trial of the cases, shall record her testimony.

The notification said that Chief Justice D N Patel and judges of the high court ordered that 'Special Judge Dharmesh Sharma shall hold court for recording the testimony of the victim in the premises/building of trauma centre of AIIMS in addition to the Tiz Hazari District Court Complex during trial of the cases'.

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 Bharatiya Janata Party, is an accused.

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

The notification came after the Supreme Court during the day asked the Delhi high court to expeditiously decide on the request of a special judge for setting up a temporary court at the AIIMS hospital to record the statements of the Unnao rape survivor.

The special judge Dharmesh Sharma, who is holding trial in the cases related to the Unnao incident, had recently written a letter to the Delhi high court seeking permission to hold in-camera proceedings at AIIMS for recording of the statement of the woman after doctors said it was 'not advisable' to bring her to the court premises.

Sharma has informed the Registrar General of the high court that the Central Bureau of Investigation, the woman and her family have 'no objection' to such deposition.

A bench of justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose also directed the CBI to complete within two weeks its probe and file the charge sheet in the road accident case, in which the rape survivor was injured.

It also indicated that if the special judge needed more than 45 days to complete the proceedings, then it may consider the request.

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

The apex 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 apex court had directed Uttar Pradesh government to provide Rs 25 lakh to the rape survivor as an 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 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.