As Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to visit Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh on April 29 to inaugurate the Ganga Expressway, a political storm over the death of a Dalit girl in Ghazipur has escalated, with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav set to meet the victim’s family the same day and opposition parties pressing for swift justice and action against officials.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday alleged that the victim, from the Vishwakarma community, was “raped and brutally murdered” and that her family was threatened to prevent the filing of an FIR.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said atrocities against women were “at their peak” in Uttar Pradesh.
The Samajwadi Party had on Friday announced that a delegation led by Yadav would visit the village on April 29 to meet the family.
The body of a teenage girl was found in the Karanda area of Ghazipur district on April 15, with her family alleging sexual assault and murder, while police said the case is under investigation and locals have demanded speedy justice.
Tensions flared on April 22 when a Samajwadi Party delegation visiting the village was attacked with stones, injuring several people, including police personnel; police have arrested 10 persons in connection with the incident.
Earlier, Yadav alleged that “power-protected dominant elements” and the village head were behind the attack, calling it an assault on the PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak), and said: “In a Ghazipur village, a lethal attack and stone-pelting were carried out by the village head and dominant elements on the Samajwadi Party delegation going to meet the family of a girl who died under suspicious circumstances… Under the BJP rule, neither villages nor cities are safe. Uttar Pradesh is passing through its worst phase of anarchy.”
Reacting to the case, Rahul Gandhi said: “A daughter of the Vishwakarma community has been raped and brutally murdered in Ghazipur, and the family has been threatened to prevent them from filing an FIR. Action should be taken against the guilty police officers, the family should be provided security and a high-level probe should be conducted. Why are daughters so unsafe under the BJP rule? In such circumstances, justice is not asked for, it is snatched.”
In a post on X, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticised administrative apathy, saying: “In the case of the murder of a girl in Ghazipur, the reluctance to register a case initially, then threats to the victim’s family and chaos created by dominant elements, show that atrocities against women are at their peak in the state. Under the BJP rule, it has become an unwritten law that whenever a woman faces atrocities, the victim is harassed further.”
Varanasi Additional Director General of Police Piyush Mordia, who visited the village on Friday with senior officials, said the 17-year-old had gone missing on the night of April 14 and her body was recovered from the Ganga the next morning about three kilometres away in the Karanda police station area.
“Based on the information given by the family, an FIR was registered and the main accused has been arrested. Further investigation is underway,” Mordia said, adding that the family expressed satisfaction with police action and sought a fast-track trial.
He also cautioned against attempts to disturb peace, saying: “After this incident, some political parties and external elements tried to create unrest in the village and attempted to instigate the family by presenting unrelated facts. I request that this should not be done,” warning of strict legal action against those trying to vitiate the atmosphere.
Police said a murder case has been registered, though the post-mortem report indicated drowning, and initial findings point to a possible suicide angle linked to a prior relationship between the deceased and the main accused.
(With inputs from PTI)