Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi Meet Victim’s Family In Hathras
Five members from Congress’ delegation have been allowed to visit Hathras and meet the victim’s family.
A delegation of Congress ministers led by former party chief Rahul Gandhi reached Hathras, Uttar Pradesh Saturday evening to meet the family of the 19-year-old woman who died after being assaulted and allegedly gangraped.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is also part of the five-member delegation that met the family to hear their grievances and demand justice for them.
Five Members Of Delegation Allowed To Visit
Only five members of a delegation of MPs led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have been permitted to go to Hathras via Noida considering the restrictions imposed under Section 144, the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police said on Saturday.
"CrPC Section 144 has been imposed in Noida, Greater Noida as well as in Hathras and some other districts in Uttar Pradesh due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Considering the social distancing and other related norms, permission has been granted for five people, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra," Police Commissioner Alok Singh told PTI.
SIT To Look Into Issues Raised By Victim’s Family
The Special Investigation Team will look into all issues raised by the family of victim and strictest action will be taken against the culprits, Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Awanish Awasthi, said on Saturday after meeting the victim's kin.
More on the story here.
UP Congress Chief Under House Arrest
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Kumar Lallu has been put under house arrest ahead of the scheduled visit. According to party spokesperson Anshu Awasthi, police personnel have been stationed outside Lallu's house in Lucknow and he is not being allowed to venture outside.
A tweet by Uttar Pradesh Congress said, "Our state president Shri Ajay Kumar Lalluji, our district heads and more than 500 workers have been placed under house arrest. Yogiji don't stop those who fight for justice."
Thursday’s Detention
On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi along with several party leaders and workers were detained by the police and sent back to Delhi, after they tried to reach Hathras to meet the family of the Dalit woman.
In a tweet in Hindi, Rahul Gandhi said the behaviour of the Uttar Pradesh government and police with the woman and her family "is unacceptable to me. No Indian should accept this."
Hitting out at the Yogi Adityanath dispensation, Priyanka Gandhi said the Uttar Pradesh government is "morally corrupt".
"The victim did not get treatment, her complaint was not registered on time, her body was forcibly cremated, the family is in captivity, they are being suppressed -- now they are being threatened that they will have to undergo a narco test," she said in a tweet in Hindi.
"This behaviour is not acceptable to the country. Stop threatening the victim's family," she said.
The party alleged that the woman and her family have been denied justice and "severely traumatised" by the BJP government in their attempt to hide the truth of the heinous crime perpetrated on her.
The Dalit woman was allegedly raped at a village in Hathras by four men on Sept. 14. After her condition deteriorated, she was referred to the Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital where she died on Tuesday.
She was cremated in the early hours of Wednesday, with her family alleging the local police forced them to conduct the last rites in the dead of the night.
Local police officers, however, had said the cremation was carried out "as per the wishes of the family".