Uttar Pradesh Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath criticized opposition parties leading the protests against the alleged gang rape and murder case in Hathras district. The prime minister accused the opposition of plotting conspiracies against the state and said they are “conducting politics on the basis of caste, religion and region,” the ANI news agency reported.
“People who have been dividing society on the basis of caste, religion and region still do so,” Adityanath was quoted as saying by the ANI news agency. “They cannot see the development, so they are hatching new conspiracies,” he added.
“One must recognize those who are making politics about the death of a person,” ANI said, quoting Adityanath.
The state’s prime minister’s comments come as several opposition leaders have been visiting the Hathras district to meet with the woman’s family.
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On Saturday, Congressional MP Rahul Gandhi and the party’s general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, met with the woman’s family. The visit that followed a dramatic confrontation with police on the Delhi-UP border was the second attempt by congressional leaders.
After the Gandhi brothers, many other leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, the Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party also visited the district.
A Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped and brutally assaulted in Hathras on 14 September. She succumbed to her injuries at the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi on September 29.
Outrage across the country was sparked after the police cremated the woman in the middle of the night. The family has accused the authorities of forcibly cremating the woman. However, authorities have denied the allegations and said it was done with the consent of the family.
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