A team of BJP leaders on Sunday met a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly gang-raped by a Samajwadi Party politician and his associate in Ayodhya district, handed her a cheque and promised her all financial and legal help necessary.

The visit by state minister Narendra Kumar Kashyap and Rajya Sabha members Ram Babu Nishad and Sangita Balwant came a day after the Ayodhya administration bulldozed a bakery owned by prime accused Moin Khan, head of the Bhadarsa Nagar SP unit in Ayodhya.

The incident has pitted the two parties against each other, with Samajwadi president Akhilesh Yadav demanding DNA tests to substantiate the rape allegation against Khan and his associate Raju. Other leaders have contrasted the Yogi Adityanath administration’s alacrity in the case with its inaction in several other rape cases and suggested this had to do with Khan’s religious identity.

The girl’s family has alleged intimidation by local SP leaders not to pursue the matter, following which a case has been lodged against Mohammad Rashid, chairman of the Bhadarsa Nagar panchayat, and local politician Jay Singh Rana.

“We told them (the girl’s family) not to fear anybody,” Kashyap, minister of state for backward classes welfare, said.

The delegation handed over a cheque for Rs 5 lakh to the girl. The state government announced the compensation two days ago.

Kashyap accused the Samajwadis of “doing politics instead of helping the victim”.

Khan and Raju allegedly raped the girl three months ago, shot a video and blackmailed her. Her mother learnt about it two months ago when the girl, the youngest of four, became pregnant.

The mother alleges the police sided with the accused until Ram Sewak Das, a local BJP leader, took the matter up and filed a case against Khan and Raju. The duo were arrested on July 30, and two police officers were later suspended for dereliction of duty.

On August 2, Das got the mother to meet Adityanath and complain about Samajwadi pressure to withdraw the case. A day later, Khan’s bakery in the Purakalandar area, where the girl was allegedly gang-raped, was demolished.

Samajwadi district president Paras Nath Yadav demanded the “harshest punishment” for the accused if proved guilty.

“We too want to meet the victim and help her, but do not dare go there: the state government may file a false case accusing us of intimidating her,” he said.

He asked: “Why was similar action not taken in many other rape and murder cases in the state?”