U.P. govt should seek forgiveness from deceased rape victim family: Congress

It accuses police and administration of trying to dismiss incident by calling it “fake news” and reacting far too late

Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest after the death of a rape victim inside the premises of Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, on September 29, 2020.

The Uttar Pradesh government should seek forgiveness from the family of the 19-year-old Hathras girl who died days after she was brutally gang-raped, the Congress said on Tuesday. It accused the police and administration of trying to dismiss the incident by calling it “fake news” and reacting far too late.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said “jungle raj” in Uttar Pradesh has killed yet another young girl. “The government said this is fake news and left the victim to die. Neither this unfortunate incident was a lie, nor the death of the victim nor the brutality of the government,” he tweeted.

At a press conference in Delhi, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani and other women leaders of the BJP were conspicuous by their silence on the issue.

Ms. Shrinate asked, “She fought and she fought hard to survive, the question still remains, why did it take eight days for the Uttar Pradesh police to register the case under the relevant Sections for the gang rape. Why is it that these men who brutally assaulted her do not face NSA [National Security Act] charges?”

She said the incident and the treatment by the police, while shocking, was not surprising since 82 of the 312 BJP MLas in the State were facing grave criminal cases. “Why is Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath absolutely quiet on all this, why is it that the Agra police and the CM’s information advisor kept calling it a fake news? Law and order has completely collapsed in the State. The police are hand in glove with the criminals and the government extended political patronage to them,” she said.

Whenever a rape incident happened, the police and others claimed that the victim was out late in the night. This incident happened when the victim was out with her mother and brother to cut grass. Her mother was just meters away from her when she was dragged away by the accused. “We demand justice, we demand that the culprits be brought to book and the administration and police should seek forgiveness not only from the victim’s family but all the women in the State, as they obviously have failed to uphold the rule of law,” Ms. Shrinate added.

General Secretary of the CPI D. Raja said the Prime Minister should take note of the misrule in Uttar Pradesh and address the problem. “It is a horrific, shocking heinous crime, it doesn’t seem to shock Yogi Adityanath, for him it is business as usual. What we witness in Uttar Pradesh is worse law and order and increasing crime against Dalit. PM keeps doing Mann Ki Baat on every issue but he doesn’t have time to check on what is happening in U.P.,” Mr. Raja said.