Opposition flays ruling BJP over IT cell members’ role in IIT-BHU case

Congress demands PM’s apology, to stage protest outside his Varanasi office; social media is flooded with photos of accused with top BJP leaders: Akhilesh Yadav

The sexual assault incident had sparked major outrage, with hundreds of students staging protests. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

Opposition parties on Monday sharpened their attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh over the alleged involvement of the ruling party workers in the sexual assault a student inside the Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU) campus in Varanasi in November last year.

The Uttar Pradesh police on Sunday arrested three men for allegedly disrobing a woman, clicking photos of her and making a video. Claiming that the accused are linked to the ruling party, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai announced that party workers will stage a protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency office in Varanasi on Tuesday.

Demanding that the PM must apologise to the daughters of Varanasi for the shameful and criminal conduct of the BJP workers, Mr. Rai claimed that the arrested persons — Kunal Pandey, the convenor of BJP’s IT cell in Varanasi, its working committee member Abhishek Chauhan and co-convenor Saksham Patel — were sent to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election to save them from getting arrested.

“Had they been arrested before the election, the message would have gone to the entire country that these three BJP officials are rapists,” he said during the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Jodo Yatra, an outreach programme of the Congress.

SP fires salvo

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a veiled reference to the alleged extrajudicial killing of gangster Vikas Dubey in 2020, said every woman in Uttar Pradesh and the country is asking why “the vehicle of criminals supported by the BJP never overturns”. “Social media is flooded with purported photos of Kunal Pandey, Saksham Patel and Anand alias Abhishek Chauhan, with top BJP leaders,” he said.

Mr. Rai alleged that BJP is working to save rapists. “The party has rapist leaders like Kuldeep Sengar and Swami Chinmayanand. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should tell the people of the State when will bulldozers run over the houses of the accused,” Mr. Rai said, alluding to the State government’s widespread demolition of houses of protesters and alleged criminals, especially those belonging to the minority Muslim community.

The sexual assault incident had sparked major outrage, with hundreds of students staging a protest. Claiming that “outside elements were involved in the incident”, IIT-BHU students demanded a ban on outsiders entering the campus.

The student in her complaint to the police alleged that around 1.30 a.m. on November 2, she, along with a friend, had gone for a walk within the campus. When they were near the Karman Baba temple, three men arrived on a bike and dragged her to a corner.

They then forcibly kissed her and undressed her. When she shouted for help, they gagged her and threatened to kill her. They also took photos of her and recorded a video of the incident, before fleeing the spot.