Unnao Rape Convict Kuldeep Sengar's Daughter Pens Desperate Plea Against Online Threats and Judicial Inertia

New Delhi – In a raw and emotional open letter addressed to the "Hon’ble Authorities of the Republic of India," Dr Ishita Sengar, daughter of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar has shared her family's harrowing eight-year ordeal, decrying a justice system mired in silence, misinformation, and relentless online harassment. The letter, which has begun circulating on social media, lays bare the personal toll of the high-profile Unnao rape case that thrust the Sengar family into national infamy and endless scrutiny.

Kuldeep Singh Sengar, once a prominent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Uttar Pradesh, was convicted in 2019 for the 2017 rape of a minor girl from Unnao and sentenced to life imprisonment. The case, which also involved the tragic deaths of the victim's father in custody and later a road accident claiming the lives of two of her aunts, sparked widespread outrage and led to Sengar's expulsion from the BJP. Yet, as his daughter poignantly reveals, the family's pursuit of what she calls "the truth" has been met with indifference, abuse, and a chilling erosion of faith in India's institutions.

On Monday, the Supreme Court, after hearing the Central Bureau of Investigation's plea challenging the high court's decision, issued a notice to Sengar, directing him to file his response. It also clarified that the former MLA couldn't walk free as he was already serving a jail term in a separate criminal case.

"I am writing this letter as a daughter who is exhausted, frightened, and slowly losing faith, but still holding on to hope because there is nowhere else left to go," the letter begins, striking an immediate chord of vulnerability. Signed simply as "A daughter still waiting for justice," it details the Sengar family's deliberate choice of restraint over spectacle. "We chose silence not because we were powerful, but because we believed in institutions," she writes. "We did not hold protests. We did not shout on television debates. We did not burn effigies or trend hashtags. We waited because we believed that truth does not need spectacle."

This stoic approach, however, has come at a devastating cost. The family has endured "daily" threats of violence on social media, including calls for the daughter to be "raped, killed, or punished simply for existing." Financially drained from endless appeals and visits to offices, emotionally shattered by public mockery, and physically exhausted, the Sengars have knocked on "no door" left unopened,from courts and media houses to government authorities, only to be met with silence. "What kind of power leaves a family voiceless for eight years?" she questions, challenging the pervasive narrative that labels them as untouchable elites.

The letter's core plea is not for special treatment but for impartiality. "We are not asking for favour. We are not asking for protection because of who we are. We are asking for justice because we are human," she asserts. It highlights a broader crisis: a "fear deliberately manufactured" that silences judges, journalists, and citizens alike, allowing "outrage and misinformation" to eclipse evidence and due process. "If truth can be drowned so easily... where does someone like me go?" she asks, her words echoing the fears of countless Indians navigating a polarized public sphere.

The daughter's missive ends on a note of fragile optimism: "I am a daughter who still believes in this country. Please do not make me regret that faith." In an era where hashtags often dictate headlines, her call for "the law to speak without fear" serves as both a personal cry and a national indictment, one that demands not just attention, but action.

Ishita's elder sister, Aishwarya also made similar remarks while speaking to India Today TV on Monday evening, saying that the Sengar family had been subjected to sustained social harassment. "We have been stripped of our dignity, of our peace, and even of our basic right to be heard," she claimed.

Aishwarya, who is also one of her father's lawyer in the case, alleged that arguments from her side were not heard during the Supreme Court hearing, adding that there were several inconsistencies and discrepancies in the survivor's statements.

As of now, Ishita's letter has garnered thousands of shares and comments on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), reigniting debates on judicial transparency and the role of digital vigilantism in high-stakes cases. Lawyer Swati K. responded to the post, " This is not your place to seek justice, Ishita. With full respect to you. Its between an accused and a complainant. Your father will never admit what he did and what he didnt. I only feel sorry that you have to face this because of your father and feel that its your fight. Its not. Wish you peace but daughters cannot clear the dirt of their adult fathers".