LUCKNOW: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP from Rae Bareli Rahul Gandhi reached Boolgarhi village in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras and met the family of the 2020 gangrape victim on Thursday morning.
The Congress leader’s visit came a day after he along with Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi paid a visit to the families of five people who died in the Sambhal violence on November 24.
The 19-year-old was allegedly gang-raped on September 14, 2020. She died on September 29, 2020, while undergoing treatment at Safdarjung hospital in Delhi.
The family of the victim had alleged that the police had conducted the last rites in haste in the dead of night, however, police officials had denied any such claims. Later, the case was handed over to the CBI.
Rahul Gandhi met the family of a Dalit woman at around 11.15 am. Police stepped up deployment in and around the hamlet in the Chandpa area of the district owing to the visit of the Congress leader.
As per the local sources, Rahul Gandhi held a closed-door meeting with the victim’s family for 45 minutes.
After Gandhi’s visit, former Congress Hathras chief Chandragupta Vikramaditya told media persons: “Rahul Gandhi has close relations with this family. He has always stood with them and will continue to do so. Today he came to listen to their problems. He is continuously fighting for their problems.”
Meanwhile, the Congress on Thursday shared a letter allegedly written by the father of Hathras rape victim following which Rahul Gandhi decided to pay visit to the family.
"The victim's family had written a letter to the Leader of Opposition Mr Rahul Gandhi demanding justice. After this letter, Mr Rahul Gandhi came to meet the victim's family today," the party said sharing the contents of the letter on social media site X.
The letter addressed to LoP expressed its plight narrating how the family was yet to witness the promises made by UP CM Yogi Adityanath becoming a reality and get justice in the September 14, 2020 incident.
Expressing despair over the handling of the matter by state authorities and non-fulfilment of promises, Om Prakash (victim's father) wrote: " My daughter was gang raped, her spine was broken and her body mutilated. After that, my daughter was murdered by the administration in the dark of night without the permission of my family. Her body was burnt by pouring kerosene at 2:30 pm. Till today, I and my family don't know whose body was burnt."
"Hon Rahul Gandhiji, I want to inform you that Hon CM Yogi Adityanathji had given a written assurance to my family that one member will get a job and a house but nothing has been given so far," the letter said. The letter said that the victim's family felt "imprisoned" under the security provided by the CRPF "and there is no employment and no one is able to go out for employment."
On the other, UP Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak reacted to the visit of Rahul Gandhi by claiming that LoP was confused and "not aware of the status of the case". Asked about the reasons for Gandhi's visit, Pathak said: "The CBI has already conducted an inquiry into this case and in BJP rule no culprit is allowed to get away scot-free." "Whether Sambhal or Hathras, he (Gandhi) keeps visiting them just to be in limelight and not for any other reason," the senior BJP leader added.
UP Minister for Minorities Welfare Om Prakash Rajbhar also slammed Rahul Gandhi for the visit saying: "If he was not aware of facts of the case, he should know that a CBI probe had long been done." "If he knows of any higher investigating authority, he should let us know. Such visits are mere gimmicks showing the Congress desperation," Rajbhar said.
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi met the family on October 3, 2020, and declared that they would fight to ensure justice to the deceased.