Uttar Pradesh police roughed up Rahul Gandhi on Thursday while preventing him from meeting the family of the Hathras gang-rape-and-murder victim, a day after the force had burnt the Dalit girl’s body while locking the parents up.

“You pushed me; you hit me with a lathi. I fell down,” Rahul, who suffered minor injuries to his hand, was heard screaming at officers.

Rahul was pushed to the ground while scores of party leaders were injured in a baton charge as the police used force to stop a Congress team on its way to Hathras. The police later arrested Rahul along with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior politicians.

Rahul was thrown off balance PTI

Rahul slumps to the ground. PTI

This was Rahul’s first outing amid the Covid-19 restrictions, and it triggered drama on the streets while generating considerable political impact.

Congress leaders voiced outrage at the police behaviour and the “low-level politics” of the ruling BJP. They condemned the manhandling as an attempt to intimidate Rahul. Congress ally Sharad Pawar too castigated the police.

Congress chief ministers Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan) and Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) described the police’s misbehaviour with Rahul as “dangerous” for democracy.

Alleging the BJP was throttling democracy, former Union minister Jairam Ramesh said: “While the Hathras horror is the direct and disastrous consequence of Yogi’s complete misrule, let’s not forget its foundations — NaMo-cracy.”

Rahul is scheduled to visit Punjab on Saturday to participate in the farmers’ agitation. He won’t be facing any physical obstruction in the Congress-ruled state where Amarinder has extended full support to the protests. Rahul may also visit BJP-ruled Haryana.

Apparently rattled by the outcry over the Hathras atrocities — the alleged bid to protect the accused, denial of adequate treatment to the girl, and the burning of her body without the family’s consent — the Yogi Adityanath government had acted swiftly on learning that Rahul and Priyanka intended to visit the village.

Priyanka with Rahul. PTI

It sealed the borders of Hathras and prohibited assemblies under Section 144. While it was widely expected that the Congress team would not be allowed to enter Uttar Pradesh and might be stopped at the Delhi-Noida border, it was eventually able to travel around 50km inside the state.

With the word having spread since morning, over 100 vehicles carrying Congress workers joined Rahul’s convoy, which was stopped after Greater Noida.

Police officers requested Rahul to return as Section 144 was in force but he insisted on visiting Hathras. He said he was ready to travel alone to avoid violating the section and asked under which law he was being stopped.

Rahul asked: “Will only Narendra Modi walk freely in India? Nobody except RSS-BJP has the freedom to go anywhere? Is meeting the family of a rape victim a crime?”He managed to cover 10km along the Yamuna Expressway on foot despite several attempts by the police to stop him. With the crowds swelling, the police finally used force.

During a scuffle between Congress leaders and policemen, an officer pushed Rahul and the MP fell.

Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu was heard shouting: “You beat up Rahulji. Who ordered a lathi-charge?”

Rahul was accompanied, apart from Priyanka and Lallu, by K.C. Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala, Adhir Chowdhury, Jitin Prasada, P.L. Punia, Sushmita Dev, Deepender Hooda, B.V. Srinivas and others.

Congress leaders said at least a dozen party workers had received serious injuries in the baton charge.

Priyanka said: “Let them treat us with brutal force but what they did with the Dalit family cannot be tolerated. The government which invokes Hindu religion at every stage didn’t allow the parents to conduct the last rites of their daughter.”

Around 3.40pm, the police lifted Rahul and Priyanka off the Yamuna Expressway along with the other leaders. While Rahul and Priyanka and a few senior leaders were taken to the Buddha International Centre in Greater Noida, the rest were whisked away to Surajpur police station.

They were later brought to the Delhi-Noida border in the evening and set free.

Rahul tweeted during the agitation: “You don’t abandon your own in times of misery. The jungle-raj in Uttar Pradesh has acquired such dimensions that even the intention to meet a grieving family scares the government. Honourable chief minister, don’t get frightened.”

In another tweet he said: “BJP’s objective is not beti bachao. It is suppress facts and save government.”

Priyanka tweeted: “An arrogant government is demonstrating its brute power over the dead bodies of innocent girls. Instead of fighting injustice, the government is inflicting injustice. We will continue our struggle for a safe and secure society for women where they can live freely and pursue their dreams.”

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