However, there could possibly a political face-off and Congress leaders may find it tough to enter Hathras with the administration banning large gatherings, putting up barricades, and sealing the borders citing the coronavirus, NDTV reported.
In the wake of a 20-year-old woman, who died after being gang-raped and tortured, and whose midnight cremation by the UP police provoked nationwide outrage, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra plan to visit Hathras in Uttar Pradesh today to meet the family of the victim.
However, there could possibly a political face-off and Congress leaders may find it tough to enter Hathras with the administration banning large gatherings, putting up barricades, and sealing the borders citing the coronavirus, NDTV reported.
An officer said that the ban has been in place since September 1 and has been extended to October 31. The media has also been barred from the victim’s village since morning. Several policemen have shown Covid symptoms, a senior officer said.
Adding to the plight of the already grieving family, the 20-year-old Dalit woman’s body who was gang-raped and murdered by four alleged upper caste men was cremated by the cops in the dead of the night. On Wednesday, the UP Police and the district administration cremated the body of Hathras gangrape victim at 3 AM allegedly against the wishes of the family. Reportedly, no family member was present when the victim was cremated in unusual haste.
According to some reports, the family members of the victim while speaking to media persons said that they wanted to bring her body one last time to their home where their relatives were present and then cremate her in the morning as per the community’s customs. However, the body of the victim who died in Safdargunj hospital in Delhi on Tuesday was whisked away by the police from the hospital around midnight without even informing the family. Some reports say that the parents and brother of the victim were in Delhi while the police brought the victim’s body to Hathras some 200 km away from the national capital.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are likely to visit the village today. Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had said “All this is a shameful move of the UP government to suppress the Dalits and show them their ”place” in the society. Our fight is against this hateful thinking.”
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