Fresh start halted in its tracks: Unnao survivor faces eviction as rent stops

NEW DELHI: The survivor in the 2017 Unnao rape case, who had moved to the capital a few years ago, is on the verge of losing her accommodation because since July, the Delhi government has not paid rent. This amount is reimbursed by the Uttar Pradesh government.
The 23-year-old survivor, who is married and seven-months pregnant with her second child, says her landlord has been threatening to cut off power, and evict her.
The woman was gang-raped on June 4, 2017, in Unnao when she was 16. On Dec 16, 2019, former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar was convicted of the crime and on Dec 20, sentenced to life imprisonment. He was also found guilty in the case of her father’s death in judicial custody.

Fresh start for Unnao rape survivor halted in its tracks
Citing police inaction in the rape case and her father being arrested on false charges, the survivor had attempted to immolate herself at the residence of chief minister Yogi Adityanath on April 8, 2018.
At her one-room house in south-west Delhi, she told TOI that she had moved to the capital in 2017 as she sensed a threat to her life in UP. After the car she was travelling in met with an accident on July 28, 2019 — her two aunts were killed and a lawyer severely injured — Supreme Court provided CRPF security to her and her family.
The top court had also transferred all five cases registered in connection with the rape from a Lucknow court to one in Delhi with directions to hold the trial on a daily basis and complete it within 45 days. Delhi high court had in September 2019 directed Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to assist the survivor and her family in getting accommodation in the capital.
“I was first provided accommodation with my mother in Nangloi following the court’s direction. However, last year, I decided to make a fresh start. On May 29, 2023, I got married and took the court’s permission to live separately,” she said.
Following an appeal by her, Delhi high court, in November 2023, directed DCW to provide separate accommodation to her considering her marriage and birth of her first child, a girl. The high court had said that the accommodation would not be taken away without its order.
For the past year, the survivor has been living at her current residence with her husband and child. Adjacent to her house is another one room tenement where the CRPF personnel guarding her stay. The rent and electricity charges for both rooms are to be paid by DCW.
Speaking to TOI on condition of anonymity, a member of the commission explained, “DCW takes the funds from Delhi’s department of women and child development (WCD) to pay the rent and electricity bill for both houses. That amount is later reimbursed by the UP govt. But, only when WCD gives the funds to DCW can they pay up.”
TOI reached out to WCD, DCW and AAP govt to find out the reason for the payments being stopped but there was no response.
The survivor said she has knocked on the doors of DCW and WCD multiple times, asking them to settle the dues but to no avail. “Currently, the bail plea of Kuldeep Singh Sengar is being heard. I still have to go to court at least five times a month. So, I can’t leave Delhi. I am afraid that if he gets bail, my family will be in danger. So, I make it a point to attend all the proceedings. But now I am scared that I may lose this house. My husband has a meagre income and that won’t be enough for us to stay in the city,” said the survivor.
The rent and the electricity bill amount are paid directly to the owner of the house. He told TOI that even in the past, the payment was irregular, but it has stopped since July. “I have been paying the electricity bill from my own pocket for the past few months,” he said.
The survivor also lamented that despite the court’s order to provide her with skill training, no proper efforts have been made. Showing the applications written to DCW, she said, “I was uneducated when the incident happened. I realised that only if I get a formal education can I have a job and a better life ahead.”
She showed her National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) degree that she has received for class Xth and XIIth. “I have written to DCW multiple times to help me with English or computer coaching but nothing has been done. Isn’t it the authorities’ responsibility to provide a rape survivor a better life? Am I
asking for too much?” she said.