The Unnao rape case, blow by blow

In yet another twist in the case, Yunus, a key witness in the murder of the father died under mysterious circumstances and buried hastily.

After the general elections in May 2019, BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj visited Sengar in jail to 'thank' him for his role in the elections.

Despite serious injuries, the police refused to put the girl's father in a hospital and sent to prison. The family feared he might be assaulted again. Days later, in a desperate move, the survivor and her family attempted to burn themselves to death outside the address of Adityanath in Lucknow.

A day later, the father died in police custody. The post mortem showed a series of injuries all over his body, hinting at torture in custody. 

The alleged accident started to dominate news. The general outrage at Sengar compelled the BJP to expel Sengar from the party, but it came more than two years after the rape.

The crime, the audacity of the accused and the plight of the family inspired Akash Banerjee to make a Twitter thread in which he gave an outline for a film, which he wanted to called #Unnao - The Surgical Strike.

The family was thrown out of their village. Over the next few months, the survivor wrote to chief minister Yogi Adityanath and several top ranking officers in Uttar Pradesh police, but no action was taken. On the other hand, the survivor and her family were repeatdly threatened.

In April 2018, the survivor’s father was attacked by Kuldeep Sengar’s brother Atul and his men. He was tied to a tree and beaten with sticks, rods and belts, as the family watched helplessly. Strangely enough, the father was arrested on the charge of possessing an illegal firearm. The FIR did not mention Atul.

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered shifting the Unnao rape survivor's uncle from a Rae Bareli jail to Tihar and said that her family has the liberty to decide if she should be moved to AIIMS, New Delhi, for treatment.

What the survivor's family faced from 2017 till now has made Akash Banerjee, a social media commentator and Youtuber, wonder if this case merits a film called #Unnao - The Surgical Strike. 

In June 2017, barely three months after Yogi Adityanath came to power in Uttar Pradesh, four-time BJP MLA from Bangarmau in Unnao, Kuldeep Singh Sengar, his brother Atul and their accomplices allegedly kidnapped and gangraped a 17-year-old girl. 

When the survivor and her family tried to file a report against the MLA, the police refuse to mention him by name.

On April 11, two days after the father's death, Adityanath announced the formation of a special investigation team to look into the rape and the custodial death of the father. 

There are allegation that the family of the survivor was locked in a hotel room, without water and electricity, under the pretext of 'protection'. 

A case of kidnapping and rape was registered against Sengar. Uttar Pradesh police also transferred the case to the CBI.

The CBI questioned Sengar and registered a case against him. The agency also arrested Shashi Singh, who took the survivor to Sengar and stood guard outside the door while the minor was raped inside. 

In July, the CBI charged Atul and five others of murdering the rape survivor’s father. A few days later, Kuldeep Sengar and Shashi Singh were charged of rape.

On July 4, 2019, the survivor’s uncle was sentenced to 10 years in prion in a 19-year-old case that was filed by Sengar’s brother, Atul. 

On July 28, a speeding lorry, its number plate blackened, hit the survivor’s car on a highway near Rae Bareli. Two of the girl's aunts died while the survivor and her lawyer were seriously injured.