Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra cancelled all her scheduled events in Lucknow and reached the home of the Unnao rape victim yesterday afternoon, where she met the family members of the deceased.
She was accompanied by party state president Ajay Kumar Lallu. The Unnao rape victim died at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi on Friday.
During the meeting with the victim’s family members, she assured them of all possible help and said that she was with them in their hour of grief.
Earlier, Priyanka attacked the Yogi Adityanath government over the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh. She tweeted: “It is a failure of all of us that we could not give her justice. Socially, we are all guilty, but it also shows the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh.”
Priyanka questioned why atrocities on women were rampant in the state and given the rape incident in Unnao, why no protection was given to the victim.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi too condoled the Unnao rape victim’s death, saying it “shames the entire humanity” as a daughter lost her life awaiting justice.
The Congress MP from Wayanad tweeted, “I am angry and shocked at the unfortunate death of a daughter of Unnao and this incident shames the entire humanity. Another woman lost her life while demanding justice and security. In this hour of grief, I express my condolence to the suffering family.”
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, “The rape victim toiled to get charges lodged for four months. She wanted to live. She wanted the rape accused punished. The UP government should take the responsibility for the tragedy, law and order has collapsed in the state.”
Slamming the Uttar Police, the journalist-turned-politician said, “The UP director general of police O P Singh says the court should not have released them in two months. My question to the DGP and the chief minister (Yogi Adityanath) is, why did your officers not file charges for four months. What action will be taken against them?”
Taking a jibe at the chief minister, Srinate said, “The chief minister says he is upset with what has happened. But it’s not the first and it will indeed not be the last if you don’t wake up to the kind of crimes that are happening against women in the state.” It seems UP is in “dying hurry” to become the “rape capital” of the world, if it has not already, she said.
The Congress leader also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior government leaders who took to streets earlier as to why they were silent now.
Sanjay Singh, member of Parliament from the Aam Aadmi Party, too lashed out at the Adityanath government.
Singh said that Yogi Adityanath has no right to comment on the Unnao victim because the culprit belongs to his own party. “Yogi Adityanath has no right to speak on Unnao because he belongs to a party that supports people like Kuldeep Sengar.”
He also said that Yogi has no time for issues like women safety. “Why were the culprits roaming scot free? What about the safety of the victim and law and order condition in the state?”
Speaking about the Hyderabad alleged encounter episode, he said: “People are celebrating extra-judicial killings because they have lost faith in the system”.
Earlier the state government said it will try to punish the accused as soon as possible by taking the matter to a fast track court. The chief minister, in a statement, said: “The incident is very sad and unfortunate.
Congress Party activists shout slogans as they protest against the Unnao rape case during a demonstration in Lucknow yesterday.
