Key Points :
- Congress Leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were arrested and briefly detained by the UP Police as they headed to Hathras on Thursday.
- The siblings were headed to the village to meet the family of the Hathras gang rape victim.
- An FIR has been lodged against the Gandhis and other unnamed protesters under Section 144 and violating pandemic law.
Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi can be seen being pushed to the ground before being detained in a video posted to the twitter account of Indian National Congress.
ये लड़ाई न्याय की है, भाजपाई गोली- लाठी से नहीं रुकेगी।
ये लड़ाई देश बेटियों के लिए है, अहंकारी भाजपा के धक्कों से नहीं रुकेगी।कांग्रेस का इतिहास न्याय के लिए सीने पर लाठी-गोली झेलने का रहा है। गर्व है कि श्री @RahulGandhi उस परम्परा को निभा रहे हैं।#JusticeForIndiasDaughters pic.twitter.com/Q9BcUcxTOv
— Congress (@INCIndia) October 1, 2020
Rahul Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were detained on Thursday by the UP Police on the highway between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh as they headed to Hathras to meet the family of the gang rape victim who lost her life on Tuesday.
Rahul Gandhi has alleged that he was pushed to the ground and lathi-charged by the Uttar Pradesh Police when he and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were marching on the highway due to their convoy being stopped by the UP Policemen.
The Gandhi siblings were taken away in a police jeep and briefly detained in a guest house before being escorted back to Delhi by the UP Police.
The Gandhi siblings were on their way to meet the family of the gang rape victim who was brutally assaulted and beaten by 4 men in the village of Hathras and whose obscure cremation shrouded in controversy has caused widespread outrage in the country. The Gandhis took to the road on foot after their vehicles were stopped outside Yamuna Highway citing imposition of Section 144.
An FIR has been lodged against Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and unknown protesters for violating pandemic law and Section 144.
“Why are you arresting me? What are the grounds for the arrest? Please tell the media what sections are they,” Rahul Gandhi said in a heated exchange with policemen, who claimed that they were charging him with “Section 188” – a law on defying official orders arguing that large gatherings were banned in the area.
In the video captured of the dramatic scene, the Congress leader can be seen resisting policemen attempting to physically stop him following which he fell to the ground due to being pushed around in the chaos.
“Just now police pushed me, lathicharged me and threw me to the ground. I want to ask, can only Modi Ji walk in this country? Can’t a normal person walk? Our vehicle was stopped, so we started walking,” Gandhi questioned the PM. The UP administration on Thursday morning put up barricades on the roads to Hathras citing the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Gandhis’ convoy crossed the Delhi-UP border but was stopped at Greater Noida, around 142 km from Hathras, following which the Gandhis climbed out of their vehicle and started marching along with a larger number of Congress workers. The group was heard shouting slogans against UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath before being faced with a large group of UP cops who tried to push them back. The Samajwadi party workers held a protest at the Hathras border and were denied proceeding to the victim’s village. Since morning, reporters had also been barred from the village. According to UP officers, the restrictions have been in place since September 1 and have been extended to October 31.
The 19 year old gang rape and assault victim succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday in Delhi due to multiple fractures, paralysis and serious spinal injury afflicted on her by four upper caste men from Hathras on September 14. Reports also suggest that the UP Police cremated her forcibly around 3 am, against her family’s wishes and did not allow them to take her body back home despite repeated requests. The forced cremation is being viewed as a desperate attempt to cover up lapses in the case.
The Gandhis have faced roadblocks in UP repeatedly in the past too.
You can read a timeline of the events that took place in the Hathras Case here :
Hathras Gang rape : A timeline of the tragic events that unfolded with the 19 year old victim
