Key Points :
- Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were allowed to cross the UP border and meet the family of the Hathras gang rape victim on October 3
- Mr. Gandhi left from Delhi for Hathras at around 2.30 pm with a convoy of 30 Congress MPs including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Shashi Tharoor.
- The ruling party has called these ‘political stunts.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Congress Leader Priyanka Gandhi have been allowed to travel to Hathras to meet the family of the 20-year old Dalit woman who was reportedly gang raped and murdered last week by 4 upper caste men in the village and whose body was suspiciously cremated in a secretive ceremony at 2:30 am by the UP Police.
This is the second attempt by the Congress leaders after their first, on Thursday resulting in a scuffle between Mr.Gandhi and the cops who refused to let the leaders pass citing covid-19 concerns. The cops shoved Mr. Gandhi to the ground after which him and Priyanka Gandhi were briefly detained and a subsequent FIR filed against them.
Opposition leader and Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’ Brien was also stopped and manhandled when he tried visiting the family.
Today, Mr. Gandhi left from Delhi for Hathras at around 2.30 pm in a silver Toyota Innova that Mrs Gandhi Vadra was driving with a convoy consisting of around 30 Congress MPs, including Shashi Tharoor. Hathras is around 200 km from Delhi.
“Nothing in the world can stop me from going to Hathras to meet this unhappy family to share their pain,” Gandhi said before leaving. Speaking to News Agency ANI, Vadra said, “If not this time, then we will try again”.
It seemed unlikely that their attempt would be successful as visuals shared by ANI online showed a massive force of around 200 police officers deployed along the Delhi-Noida Direct (DND) Flyover and metal barricades, which prompted many to question where the cops were when needed to deal with crimes against women in the state.
However, giving in to the pressure in the country, The UP government allowed Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and two others – KC Venugopal and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury – to cross. The ruling BJP has called these visits ‘political stunts’.
The government has earlier cited Covid-19 concerns for prohibiting large gatherings – such as those of the Congress delegation – in the state.
Top officials from the UP government and police – DGP HC Awasthy and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi – travelled to Hathras today to meet the family, the first visit by high-ranking officials of the government and police since the incident that took place on September 14.
UP CM Adityanath tweeted in Hindi “Those who even think of harming mothers and daughters in UP, their destruction is assured,” he tweeted in Hindi.
The crime has incited massive protests in the country with the public calling for strict action and stricter measures to prevent such heinous crimes.
The Allahabad High Court has taken notice of the case and has summoned top officials of the government and police to appear before it on October 12 saying the matter is of “immense public importance… involves allegation of high-handedness by state authorities, resulting in violation of basic human and fundamental rights”.
