Unnao Case: Survivor Moves Delhi HC Seeking Enhancement Of Sentence For Kuldeep Sengar, Hearing On February 19

New Delhi: In a significant move towards justice for her family, the Unnao rape survivor has petitioned the Delhi High Court to increase the sentence of expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the case involving her father's custodial death.

Currently, Sengar is serving a 10-year term for this specific conviction, but the victim is seeking to escalate the charge from culpable homicide to murder, which would carry a life sentence.

The Delhi High Court, meanwhile, transferred the case regarding the custodial death of the Unnao rape survivor’s father to a bench headed by the Chief Justice on Monday.

This move follows a Supreme Court directive to fast-track the appeal filed by former MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar. 

The Supreme Court has also requested an "out-of-turn" hearing to ensure a final decision is reached within the next three months.

The case is set for a comprehensive hearing on February 19, as directed by the Delhi High Court where the session will bring together all cross-appeals from the survivor, Sengar, and other co-accused to be heard as a single block.

SC refuses to entertain Senger’s plea

The Supreme Court earlier refused to entertain a plea filed by former BJP leader Sengar, who had challenged a January 19 order of the high court declining to suspend his 10-year prison sentence.

While dismissing his request, the apex court observed that if the victim’s family has filed any appeal against the trial court’s verdict, the high court should consider that appeal alongside Sengar’s pending petition.

The matter was heard by a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria.

SC upholds Kuldeep Sengar's sentence

In a significant legal reversal, the Supreme Court stayed a Delhi High Court order on December 29 last year that had temporarily suspended Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s life sentence in the Unnao rape case. 

The apex court ruled that such relief was inappropriate given Sengar's simultaneous conviction and 10-year sentence in the related custodial death case of the survivor’s father. 

This intervention followed an urgent appeal by the CBI, which argued that the High Court's decision to grant bail, based on the technical definition of an MLA as a “public servant”, undermined the gravity of the 2017 minor rape conviction.

As of early 2026, Sengar remains in custody, with the Supreme Court recently reinforcing this stance on February 9 by refusing further bail pleas. The judiciary is now moving toward a final resolution, with all appeals, including the victim's request for a harsher sentence, consolidated for an expedited hearing starting February 19.

"If I had died like Nirbhaya...'

The Unnao rape survivor earlier this month expressed relief after the Supreme Court of India rejected the bail plea of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in connection with the custodial death of her father.

The Unnao rape survivor said she has been struggling for eight years to prove the assault, adding that if she had died like Nirbhaya, her ordeal would have been believed. She urged the Supreme Court to deliver justice for her father, calling for the death penalty for Kuldeep Singh Sengar so that her father's soul can rest in peace.

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