New Delhi: The Unnao rape survivor on Monday expressed relief after the Supreme Court rejected the bail plea of expelled BJP leader and former MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in connection with the custodial death of her father.

Speaking to ANI after the verdict, the survivor said she was satisfied with the court’s decision and its direction to conclude the hearing expeditiously. “I was in the court when the judge gave his verdict. I am very happy with this verdict. I am satisfied that the judge has ordered the hearing to be completed within three months,” she said.

Recalling her long legal battle, she said she had been struggling for eight years to prove the assault. “My father is not going to come back. His brothers, Atul Singh Sengar and Jaideep Singh Sengar, killed my father. They are out of jail for medical treatment. All the police officers who were involved are out,” she said.

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Referring to Sengar, she added, “He has committed a heinous act against me. He has raped me. How can I prove it? Am I alive? Do I have to do this?”

'If I had died like Nirbhaya'

The survivor said that had she died like the 2012 Delhi gangrape victim Nirbhaya, her ordeal might have been believed sooner. “If I had died like Nirbhaya, everyone would have believed that I was raped. I am alive. It took years to prove what happened to me,” she said.

She urged the Supreme Court to ensure justice for her father and sought the death penalty for Sengar. “I have requested that the Supreme Court deliver justice for my father. He should be hanged so that my father’s soul can be at peace,” she said.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court declined to grant immediate relief to Sengar on his plea seeking suspension of sentence and bail in the custodial-death case, but requested the Delhi High Court to hear and decide the appeal within three months.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said, “We deem it a fit case to request the High Court to hear the appeal and decide the same, but not later than three months.”

Sengar had approached the apex court challenging the January 19, 2026 order of the Delhi High Court, which had refused to suspend his sentence or grant bail in the custodial-death case. He was convicted by a March 4, 2020 judgment under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 166, 167, 193, 201 and 203, read with Section 120-B, and sentenced to a maximum of 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment, with separate sentences for individual offences.

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Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Sengar, argued that the former MLA had already undergone more than seven years and six months of actual incarceration and that continued denial of bail was unjustified due to delays in hearing the appeal.

However, the court noted that the criminal appeal was already listed for final hearing before the Delhi High Court on February 11, making the plea for suspension of sentence largely academic.

Opposing the plea, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, said Sengar was already serving a life sentence in a separate rape conviction and that no exceptional circumstances existed to justify bail.

“In cases of conviction, the normal rule is that the appeal should be heard before completion of sentence,” the Chief Justice said, adding that the victim’s right to pursue her own appeal could not be curtailed.

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Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that courts are generally cautious in granting bail where the accused has serious criminal antecedents, particularly in cases involving custodial death, noting that a police officer has already been convicted in the case.