LUCKNOW: An uncle of the 17-year-old girl, who has accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar of rape, on Sunday alleged that the lawmaker’s associates had threatened people in their village — Makhi in Unnao district — against giving their statements in the case. “I have come to know through my relatives in the village that associates of the MLA on Saturday visited the village in two SUVs and threatened people not to give statements against the MLA,’’ the uncle said. “They also made videos of villagers. One of the persons among them is jail warder. Locals residents of Makhi village know him (jail warder) because he used to visit the MLA’s house regularly.’’

He said that he had asked one of his relatives to file a complaint with the Makhi police station as the girl’s family has been staying at a guest house away from their village. Makhi Station House Officer Rajendra Singh said no complaint had been filed in this regard. “There is a police force deployed in the village. So, there is no chance that such an incident could happen.”

Separately, a Lucknow court on Sunday remanded a 52-year-old accused in the alleged rape in four-day police custody. Shashi Singh is accused of allegedly luring and taking the girl to the MLA house before she was allegedly raped at Makhi. The girl’s mother, who is the complainant in the case, alleged that Singh was present outside the room as a guard when the MLA allegedly raped her daughter on June 4, 2017. She alleged that the lawmaker had threatened to kill her family if her daughter spoke about the assault.

The CBI is likely to take Singh and Sengar to Unnao to collect evidence against them and to bring them face to face with the girl and her family. The court had on Saturday sent Sengar in seven-day police remand.