Unnao BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj said: “He (Sengar) has been lodged here for a long time, I came to meet him, to thank him after the elections.” (file) Unnao BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj said: “He (Sengar) has been lodged here for a long time, I came to meet him, to thank him after the elections.” (file)

BJP MP from Unnao Sakshi Maharaj Wednesday visited rape accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar at Sitapur jail to “thank him after the elections”.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Sakshi Maharaj said, “Our ‘yashasvi’ (renowned) and popular MLA Kuldeep Sengarji is lodged here for quite some time. I thought it appropriate to thank him after the elections.”

Jail Superintendent DC Mishra told news agency PTI the meeting lasted barely two minutes. He said the MP enquired about Sengar when he was about to leave after spending half an hour with him.

“He said he would thank the MLA. He thanked him and then left. It lasted barely two minutes,” the jail superintendent said.

Mishra told the PTI that as Sakshi Maharaj was an MP, he was “accorded the protocol”.

According to news reports, Sakshi Maharaj had also visited Sengar’s house in Unnao during campaigning for Lok Sabha elections.

Sengar, a BJP MLA from Unnao, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April last year for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl. Sengar’s brother Jai Deep Singh was also booked along with five others in connection with the death of the victim’s father. According to the CBI, the vicitm’s father was assaulted by the accused for allegedly insulting the MLA and his brother. He was handed over to police but his condition deteriorated in jail. He was rushed to the district hospital where he died the next morning.

The case came to light on April 8, 2018, when the girl attempted to immolate herself outside Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence in Lucknow, alleging police inaction against the accused. Her family alleged that she was also raped by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, on June 4, 2017.

The Unnao police lodged three cases. Following an uproar, the state government transferred the investigation to CBI.

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