CBI Traces House Where Unnao Rape Survivor Was Held Captive

The case pertains to the gangrape of a girl in June 2017 allegedly by Shubham Singh, Naresh Tiwari & Brijesh Yadav.

Protesters during a midnight candlelight vigil against the Kathua and Unnao rape cases. Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo: PTI)

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that is investigating the 2017 Unnao gangrape case has "traced the house in Kanpur where the girl was kept after kidnapping".

The case pertains to the gang-rape of the girl between 11 and 20 June 2017 allegedly by Shubham Singh, his driver Naresh Tiwari and one Brijesh Yadav. Before that, the girl was allegedly raped by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar at his residence in Makhi village on 4 June 2017.

Regarding the latest development, a CBI officer was quoted by The Indian Express as saying:

“The girl was also taken to the house and she identified the place. We will probe whether the house owner was aware of the kidnapping.”

CBI officer, as quoted by The Indian Express

The house in question is said to be owned by a relative of an accused.

In December 2018, an FIR was lodged on court orders against the victim, her mother and an uncle for producing a forged age certificate to prove she was a minor.

The court had ordered registration of a case against the three on a complaint by the father of the accused Shubham.

Frustrated with the alleged police inaction and coercion from influential people, the then minor victim had attempted self-immolation in front of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's residence on 8 April 2018.

The victim's father was booked by the police under the Arms Act on 3 April 2018 and jailed on 5 April, where he died on 9 April.

A video purportedly showing the victim's father before his death, accusing the MLA's brother of assaulting him, had then gone viral.

Sengar's brother Atul Singh was arrested along with four others by the UP Crime Branch, for allegedly thrashing the victim's father.

The state government had transferred the case to the CBI nearly 10 months after the crime.