The alleged gang-rape of a 19-year old girl in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh and the subsequent death of the victim found an echo in the Odisha Assembly on Saturday.
Condemning the incident and the alleged bid by the Uttar Pradesh police to cover up the matter by allegedly cremating the body of the victim in a hush manner, Congress MLAs stormed into the well of the House and raised slogans against the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Congress members pointed out how the girl was gagged, raped and then bludgeoned by a group of goons. She succumbed to the injuries sustained during the violence perpetrated against her by the goons.
As soon as the House assembled for the day, senior Congress leader Narasingh Mishra raised the issue. He said: “Democracy has been butchered in Uttar Pradesh. All attempts are being made to deny justice to the girl. The way police was used to manhandle former AICC president, Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi is beyond imagination. Such things should not happen in a civilised society. The BJP government has murdered the democracy. An authoritarian rule prevails at the moment”
Congress MLAs trooped into the well of the House and demanded the resignation of Yogi. Senior MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati tried to climb onto the podium of the Assembly. “How could police dare to touch Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi when the two Congress leaders were on their way to meet the family members of the gang-rape victim. There is no democracy,” said Bahinipati.
As the House witnessed pandemonium, it could not take up any business for the day in the morning session and the Speaker had to adjourn the House repeatedly. Later, the Speaker called an all-party meeting in his chamber to break the stalemate. But this failed to resolve the issue and the House had to be adjourned again.
The BJD also reacted to the incident. “The attack on the Dalit woman is unfortunate. We condemn it. If the family members don’t get justice, we will hit the streets. The police are acting as puppets in the hands of Uttar Pradesh government,” said BJD woman MLA Shenangini Chhuria. Later in the afternoon, normalcy was restored in the House.
However, the BJP maintained that Uttar Pradesh police did not manhandle Rahul. “He intentionally fell on the ground,” said BJP MLA Bishnu Charan Sethi.