Kuldeep Singh Sengar said he reached police officer's house since media was there and he isn't a fugitive
Highlights
- BJP legislator visits senior Lucknow cop's home with about 100 supporters
- Says TV channels said I will surrender, so I came; I'm not a fugitive
- Is accused of raping teen, blamed in her father's custody death
Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the lawmaker of the ruling BJP
charged of raping a 16-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh, drove to the house of a senior police officer late on Wednesday night along with 100 supporters after reports that he could surrender. But the lawmaker, who arrived in a convoy of 20-odd vehicles, insisted that he had only reached the official residence of Lucknow city's police chief, because the media was there.
Mr Sengar said he wasn't a fugitive.
"I have come here because TV channels were saying I will surrender," he told reporters who had reached the police officer's residence. However, he was not arrested.
The
girl from Unnao, who has accused him of rape in June last year, said she had tried everything she could in the last nine months to get justice but failed.
On Sunday, the girl attempted suicide outside the residence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after her 55-year-old
father was thrashed allegedly by the lawmaker's brother Atul Singh and arrested by the police. He died the next day, reportedly due to the injuries he had sustained.
In the case filed about his assault, the police left out Atul Singh's name.
The government, which has been blamed for trying to protect the lawmaker and his brother, Atul Singh, had responded to the national outrage by setting up a special probe team. Atul Singh was arrested on Tuesday.
The special team is learnt to have sent its initial report to the state government late on Wednesday evening.
A senior police officer had earlier declared that "corrective steps" would be taken.
The Uttar Pradesh government later ordered the police to file a case against the lawmaker and hand over all cases related to it to the Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI.
The decision to ask the CBI to step in was taken after a special probe team set up by the Yogi Adityanath government found serious lapses not just by the police but also doctors in Unnao. The government has ordered security cover to the family of the rape survivor.