Hundreds of civil society members, students, women and political leaders, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, gathered at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi on Friday in a mass protest to demand justice for the young woman who died 15 days after allegedly gang-raped in Hathras. district of Uttar Pradesh. Wearing masks and raising slogans against the UP government, they demanded that the chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, resign, claiming that his administration was “protecting” the accused. Most of those in Jantar Mantar, which became the first major gathering of protesters in Delhi since the anti-CAA rallies in February-March, said they were outraged by the way the UP police cremated the body. of the victim in the middle of the night.
The protest was initially to be held at the India Gate, but had to be moved to Jantar Mantar due to the ban orders in force in the Rajpath area. Delhi police had said that up to 100 people would be allowed to gather at Jantar Mantar with prior permission. Police officers repeatedly made public announcements urging the protesters to keep their masks and maintain social distance. The protesters were later booked for violating Section 144 of the CrPC and other COVID-19 restrictions, a senior law enforcement official said.
Congress Secretary General Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who had tried to march to Hathras with her brother Rahul Gandhi on Thursday but were briefly detained by UP police in Greater Noida, attended a separate prayer meeting for the 19-year-old Dalit woman. . She said that all women must raise their voices and question the government to seek justice for the “daughter of Hathras.” She added that the Congress party will continue to put pressure on the Adityanath government until justice is served in the case.
The woman succumbed at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi from injuries sustained in the assault by four upper caste men in her village in Hathras district on 14 September. All four have been arrested. The incident sparked outrage across the country after television footage showed local police cremating the body at night. Her family members alleged that they were not allowed to take the body home for the last time, but police claimed they had the family’s consent for the cremation.
Priyanka Gandhi, who has been at the forefront of the attack on the Uttar Pradesh government, criticized the Hathras administration for incinerating her after sunset. “Our country does not have a tradition in which the victim’s father, brother, family cannot light the pyre,” he said at the organized prayer meeting.
Later in the evening, civil society activists, students, women and political leaders gathered in Jantar Mantar against the incident and the response of the UP government. Chief Minister Kejriwal, actor Swara Bhasker, Bhim’s army chief Chandrasekhar Azad, AAP lawmaker Saurabh Bhardwaj, left-wing leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury also attended the protest. Addressing the protesters, Kejriwal said that there should be no politics on the issue and that the accused should receive the strictest punishment.
“The whole country wants the accused to receive the strictest punishment. Few people feel that they are trying to protect the accused. That shouldn’t happen … The family needs help and sympathy. The family should have no problems.” He said. Bhasker said that people from different groups have gathered at Jantar Mantar, which shows how enraged the people are. “It is time we started fighting the rape epidemic.” Lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan said that UP police have surrounded the village, do not allow opposition leaders and the media to enter it, and have also taken the mobile phones of the victim’s relatives.
“What is happening in UP is goondaraj,” he alleged. “The silence of the central government and the top leadership of the BJP on such a heinous crime and the response of the UP government thereafter says a lot about the authoritarian and undemocratic” chehra “,” chaal “,” charitra “and” chintan “from the ruling party,” Yechury added.
In view of the protest, the Delhi police had tightened security in Jantar Mantar. Senior police officers and paramilitary personnel were deployed to manage the crowd and the site has been blocked to restrict the movement of people, an official said.
The entry and exit gates of some Delhi metro stations leading to Jantar Mantar were closed for a few hours. “Janpath’s entrance and exit gate is closed. Trains will not stop at this station. Rajiv Chowk and Patel Chowk exit gates are closed,” the DMRC tweeted. CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat said that anarchy in UP is “a working caste code, not the Constitution of India.”
Azad of Bhim Army demanded that a fast track court be established to hear the case on a daily basis. “The guilty must be punished as soon as possible so that others will be scared before committing such crimes. We will go to Hathras and until the matter reaches Delhi, there is no possibility of justice,” he said. Meanwhile, the UP government suspended Hathras SP Vikrant Vir and four other police officers based on the preliminary report submitted by the SIT investigating the incident.
CM Adityanath said his government is committed to the safety of women and those who even think of damaging their self-esteem will face “total destruction.” “They will receive such punishment that it will set an example for them. The UP government is committed to the safety and development of mothers and daughters,” he said, adding that “this is our determination and promise.”
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