NEW DELHI: After cars of Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi were stopped at Greater Noida en route to Hathras, the Congress leaders proceeded on foot to meet with the family members of the gang-rape victim, party sources said on Thursday afternoon.
The brother-sister duo were, however, met with a posse of policemen who stopped their march along the Yamuna Expressway. "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," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said.
According to the latest information reaching here, the Congress leaders have been taken into preventive custody. "We have stopped them here. The Epidemic Act is being violated. We will not allow them to proceed forward," said Noida ADCP Ranvijay Singh
The 19-year-old Dalit girl's gang rape and unfortunate death has sparked a nationwide outrage.
Speaking to the media, Priyanka Gandhi said, "Around the same time last year, we were fighting for the Unnao daughter, the situation in UP has not changed in a year. UP CM must take responsibility for safety of women and ensure atrocities against them are stopped."
"The incident (Hathras gang rape) was big injustice and what the govt did after that in cremating the body was a bigger insult"
Sources said both the leaders left 10, Janpath, Delhi, the residence of the Congress president, and entered UP via the DND flyover, where a large number of Congress workers had gathered.
Traffic was disrupted in the area.
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala is accompanying the two senior leaders.
In Hathras, the district magistrate has imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and ordered sealing of the district borders to maintain peace.
The Gandhis, who have been critical of the BJP-led UP government for failing to protect the victim, want to express their condolences and show solidarity to the victim's family in Hathras.
A 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men in Hathras on September 14 and referred to the Safdarjung hospital in Delhi on Monday with spinal cord injuries, paralysis and cuts in her tongue.
She died around 3 am on Tuesday.
Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Congress media coordinator Lalan Kumar had said in Lucknow that a large number of party workers have gathered at Ghaziabad to receive the two leaders.
Meanwhile, Aligarh hospital's medical report of the woman did not confirm rape, claimed Superintendent of Police (SP) Vikrant Vir on Thursday.
"The medical report from the Aligarh Muslim University Medical College mentions that there were injuries but it does not confirm forced sexual intercourse. They're waiting for a report of the forensics. As of now, doctors say that they're not confirming rape," he told ANI.
Before the 19-year-old succumbed to her injuries at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi on Tuesday, she was undergoing treatment at Aligarh Muslim University Medical College.
The SP added that the Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, visited the village and met the victim's family on Wednesday.
"The three-member team inspected the crime spot. Investigation is on," the Hathras SP said.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday announced that the kin will be given Rs 25 lakh as ex-gratia, a house, and a government job for one of the family members.
The government has said the matter will be heard in a fast-track court.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath also spoke to the family of the victim through videoconferencing.
Meanwhile, Congress kept on its attack on Yogi Adityanath government on Thursday, saying that the "jungle raj" that has spread in Uttar Pradesh has no limits and the time for accountability is now.
The Congress made the statement on the backdrop of a Dalit woman's death in Balrampur district after being allegedly raped by two men.
This news came amid the nationwide outrage over the Hathras case.
Several Congress leaders, including former president Rahul Gandhi, reacted to the two incidents.
Alleging that "atrocities" on women and the government's brazenness is continuing, Rahul Gandhi said, "Did not give respect when alive and also snatched the dignity in death."
His tweet in Hindi referenced the Hathras gang-rape victim's family being allegedly denied the right to properly perform her last rites.
"BJP's slogan is not 'save girl child', it is 'hide facts, save power'," he added, using the hashtag 'Balrampurhorror'.
Gandhi was referring to the Centre's scheme 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao'.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretary in-charge of UP, said a gruesome incident like Hathras has taken place in Balrampur too.
The woman was raped and her legs and back broken, she said.
"In Azamgarh, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, girls were brutalised," the Congress general secretary said in a tweet in Hindi.
"The jungle raj spread in UP has no limits. Law and order is not run by marketing and speeches. This is time for accountability of the Uttar Pradesh chief minister. The public wants accountability," Priyanka Gandhi added.
Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also lashed out at the Yogi Adityanath government over the Balrampur incident, asking if the "law is alive or dead".
"Is it a government of the Constitution or of criminals," Surjewala said and asked why the UP CM doesn't resign.
Both the accused in the Balrampur incident have been arrested, police said.
The young woman was cremated on Wednesday, the same day as the Hathras teen whose last rites were conducted in the dead of the night around 3 am.
(With Agencies Inputs)