The opposition upped the ante against the Yogi Adityanath government over the alleged gang-rape and the death of a dalit girl in Hathras, as reports emerged that the victim's family members are being kept under house arrest and being threatened, and opposition leaders were stopped from visiting Hathras.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted a video where an alleged family member of the victim is heard telling the media how others are being kept under house arrest and being threatened. The former party president also alleged that the family members are being “beaten up and brutalized”.
Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi sat on a 'silent dharna' at the Valmiki Mandir in New Delhi, where a prayer meet for the victim was taking place. The Gautam Buddh Nagar police has already registered cases against Rahul and Priyanka, along with over 200 others, under section 188 (disobedience to order by public servant), 269 (unlawfully or negligently spreading the infection of any disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of Indian Penal Code and Epidemic Act, ANI reported. The two were detained after they marched to Hathras district in violation of prohibitory orders.
Congress and other opposition parties like the CPI(M), Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress condemned the police action against the opposition MPs and leaders. While TMC MPs were stopped from visiting Hathras, SP workers were lathicharged in Lucknow when they were taking out a protest march against the alleged-gang-rape and the farm laws.
Congress also accused accused the state BJP government of "conspiring" to prove the victim a "liar". A day after a senior UP police officer claimed that the Hathras dalit woman was not raped, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that the UP authorities tried to hush up things and forcibly cremated the victim in the dead of night against Hindu rituals.
Delhi CM and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, too, criticised the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh for the manner in which it treated the Hathras victim and cremated her mortal remains in the night against Hindu religious customs. Kejriwal said the victim was not only inhumanly treated, raped and killed by the savages, she and her family were also "wrongly" treated by the ruling dispensation in UP.
"This in itself was a painful incident," Surjewala said, adding that the Yogi Adityanath government should "hang its head in shame".
"Adityanath's DIG, Law and Order, now says no rape took place. If you had a daughter Adityanathji, you would understand the pain. If any untoward incident takes place with a daughter or a son, how much pain one faces," the Congress leader said.
Surjewala said the victim in her dying declaration had confirmed gang-rape.
"After she died you are conspiring to prove her a liar. God will never forgive you, Adityanath, for such acts. You must resign and go to the people of Uttar Pradesh, who will tell you what is the reality of the BJP government,” Surjewala said in Kaithal during a protest against the Centre's farm laws.
Citing forensic examination, Uttar Pradesh Police Additional Director General (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar had said the forensic examination on the woman who died at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday did not indicate rape. But legal experts debunked the theory, telling PTI that the presence of sperm on the victim's body cannot be an essential ingredient to prove the crime.
Meanwhile, UP CM Yogi Adityanath said his government is committed to womens' safety and those who even think of harming their self-respect will face “total destruction”.
"They will get such a punishment that it will set an example. The UP government is committed to the safety and development of mothers and daughters," he said, adding that "this is our resolve and promise."
