Mayawati seeks President’s Rule in U.P.

Calls for speedy probe and death penalty for Badaun accused

BSP supremo Mayawati meets the families of the two cousins who were raped and kille3d in Badaun district.

Attacking the Samajwadi Party regime over the increasing lawlessness and “jungle raj” in Uttar Pradesh in the light of the Budaun gangrape and murder, Bahujan Samaj Party president, Mayawati on Sunday demanded the ouster of the Government in the “interest of the State”.

“The Governor should not delay sending his recommendation for the imposition of President’s Rule in the State,” the BSP chief reiterated. Ms. Mayawati even sought the Centre’s intervention and said that instead of staging dharnas, demonstrations and different kinds of “drama”, decisive steps should be taken.

The BSP supremo who visited Katra Sadatganj village and met the family members of the two minor girls who were gangraped and killed in the night of May 27 and 28, said a time bound inquiry should be conducted into the incident.

She demanded the strictest possible punishment for the accused, adding that the victims’ families had rejected the compensation offered by the State Government as they wanted justice instead of money.

BSP help

She assured the family members that party workers would call on them on Monday to give them Rs. 10 lakh as compensation. She later went to the place where the girls were hanged.

“Rape and murder of innocent girls and women have been on the rise in Uttar Pradesh ever since Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh repeatedly said at election meetings that boys were boys and could not be hanged for a ‘trivial fault’ like rape,” Ms. Mayawati told presspersons.

She urged the Centre to dismiss the State government, saying it had miserably failed to check crime and provide security to the masses and had lost control over the bureaucracy. The police, she said, were working at the behest of certain quarters and the people of Badaun were in panic.

Stating that there was no place for Dalits under the Samajwadi Party, Ms Mayawati said even Muslims were used for political gains and discarded once the party’s work was done, referring to the removal of Chief Secretary Javed Usmani.

She urged the Centre to set a precedent by facilitating a rapid investigation and trial and ensuring the death penalty for the accused as this was a most horrifying crime. All this happened even after the family informed the policemen about the kidnap, but the law enforcers, instead of searching for the girls, sent the local people to look for them, she said.