Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday slammed the Uttar Pradesh government after the bodies of two teenage girls were found hanging from a tree in Fatehgarh and said even expecting justice under a BJP dispensation is a crime.
The Dalit girls, aged 18 and 15, had left their homes around 10 pm on Monday to visit a nearby temple on the occasion of Janmashtami but did not return, police said.
Their bodies were found hanging from a tree in a mango orchard outside a village in Fatehgarh on Tuesday, with the police launching an investigation into what it prima facie believed to be a case of double suicide.
"Even expecting justice under a BJP government is a crime! What can one expect from those whose priority is not justice but hiding the crime even in the most serious incidents against the weak and the deprived?" Gandhi said in a post on X in Hindi.
The incident in Farrukhabad is very unfortunate, such an attitude of the administration towards the victim's family cannot be tolerated at any cost, he said and shared the video of the father of the deceased girls seeking justice.
"How long can all this be tolerated? As a society, this is a big question before us!" the former Congress chief said.
Security is the right of every daughter of India and justice is the right of every victim's family, he added.
In a post on X in Hindi, Priyanka Gandhi said, "Why does a father have to raise these questions after such a horrific incident? Doesn't a victim's father have the right to know the truth about the treatment meted out to his daughter? Why is the administration in a hurry to cremate the bodies of the girls?" "The attitude of the administration towards the incident that happened with two Dalit girls in Farrukhabad is raising many questions," she said and shared the video of the father of the deceased girls seeking justice.
Be it Hathras, Unnao or Farrukhabad -- the same cruel story is repeated everywhere, the Congress leader said.
So should the Dalits, backward, deprived, poor, women or whoever is weak, give up hope of justice now, she asked.
The incident has drawn sharp criticism of law and order from the Samajwadi Party, the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said it was time to put "women's safety above party politics" as he called for an "impartial" inquiry into the matter.
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