NEW DELHI: Hours after the 19-year-old Hathras gang-rape victim breathed her last on Tuesday morning, her family and hundreds of people from the Valmiki Samaj and members of the Bhim Army led by its chief Chandrashekhar Azad, AAP MLA Ajay Dutt and workers of the Congress held a protest at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital, demanding the culprits be sentenced to death.
For hours the protestors, who gheraoed the hospital from inside and outside, blocked the main road, demanding justice for the teenager. Azad blamed the Centre and the Yogi government and the UP Police for negligence in registering the FIR.
“First, they delayed in registering FIR and then, they lagged in providing good treatment to her. When the victim’s condition deteriorated, they shifted her to Delhi,” he said.
Azad had earlier demanded that the UP government shift the woman to AIIMS for better treatment. The Bhim Army chief said: “I appeal to all members of the Dalit community to take to the streets and demand the death penalty for the guilty. The government should not test our patience. We won’t rest until the culprits are hanged.”
The victim’s family and brother alleged that her body was not handed over to them even hours after her postmortem. The family also alleged that the Aligarh hospital had claimed they would take the victim to AIIMS-Delhi for better treatment but instead, she was admitted to Safdurjung Hospital.
AAP MLA Ajay Dutt also alleged that the police manhandled the protestors. Later, a Bhim Army spokesperson alleged that Azad was arrested by the Delhi Police.
Height of brutality
The accused had tried to strangle her to death as she resisted their rape bid and in the process, she had ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it.