Unnao case: Apple told to disclose Sengar's location on day of rape

A Delhi court on Saturday (September 28) asked American multinational corporation Apple Inc. to give details on the expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s location on the day he allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl from Unnao.

District Judge Dharmesh Sharma, who was in charge of holding in-chamber proceedings for the Unnao rape case, gave time till October 9 to the company after the firm sought two weeks time to locate and access the requisite data, said lawyers related to the case.

The counsel for Apple India Pvt Ltd told the court that they needed to wait for further instructions regarding availability of the data, because as of now, it was not known whether the data had been stored. Even if the data was stored, the location of storage and whether it was available for usage as evidence was still in question.

The company counsel further said that they were yet to take a decision on the format in which the data, if available, can be supplied to the court. The court told the counsel that the data should be furnished along with an affidavit containing a certificate from the system analyst or the authorised person of the company.

Also read: Unnao case: Temporary court put up at AIIMS to record statement of survivor

The woman was allegedly raped by Sengar in 2017, when she was a minor. The court has already framed charges against the Bangermau MLA and put him on trial. The charges were under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), Section 363 (kidnapping), Section 366 (kidnapping or inducing a woman to compel for marriage), 376 (rape) and other relevant sections under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

A month ago, the rape survivor, her two aunts and her lawyer had been travelling by car and were hit by a speeding truck in Rae Bareli. Her two aunts succumbed to their injuries, and the rape survivor and her lawyer were severely injured.

The two of them were admitted to AIIMS, Delhi, and the rape survivor’s uncle alleged the involvement of Sengar’s men in the accident. The 17-year-old girl gave her statement regarding the accident in a temporary court set up at the hospital, since she had been in a critical state at that time.

The rape survivor’s father had been arrested on April 3, 2018 in a case filed by the police under the Arms Act. He died in judicial custody six days later.

(With inputs from agencies)