A day after the alleged gang-rape and forceful conversion of a young woman in a Madrasa in Utttar Pradesh came to light; the BJP on Tuesday accused the SP government of failing to ensure law and order in the State and alleged that the party is “pandering” to one community for vote-bank politics. SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s assurance that action will be taken against the culprits involved in the alleged gang-rape did little to assuage the BJP, which had demanded a CBI probe.
Meerut MP, Rajinder Aggarwal who raised the issue in Lok Sabha said the UP government did not even lodge an FIR and no action was taken for long after her abduction was reported. “The girl was abducted on July 27; the missing person’s report was filed on the 29th. She managed to flee from her abductors on August 3, and said the Village Pradhan had abducted her and kept her at his house. She was later shifted to a Madrasa by the Pradhan and his wife where she was gang raped. She was then moved to another Madrasa in Muzzafarnagar where she was gang-raped again and was operated upon…she was at the police station from 10 a.m., but till I reached there at 5 p.m. the FIR was also not lodged,” Mr. Aggarwal said.
Accusing the SP government of inaction he said: “The girl has stated that there were at least 40-50 other girls in the Madrasa held similarly, this is a clear case of human trafficking and yet the government has done nothing about it. From our experience we feel, the government is trying to look at these crimes through the prism of communal politics and not as law and order issues. Such crimes have been reported before, but no action was taken, which is why there were communal flare-ups in Sharanpur and other places,” he told The Hindu outside Parliament.
Even as the Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a report from the Uttar Pradesh government over the gang-rape and forced conversion, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has also issued a statement assuring protection and assistance the victim.
A senior NCW member said the Commission will speak to the UP administration to ensure that no communal violence occurs while the investigation takes place.
The victim, a teacher in the Sarawa Village madrasa in Kharkhauda had claimed that she was gang- raped and forced to convert and made to undergo an operation. She also alleged that more women were held captive at the Madrasa and were being trafficked.
