The Uttarakhand Congress on Friday demanded a CBI probe into the gang rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in Haridwar while alleging that the involvement of BJP leaders in crimes against women has exposed the party's anti-women face.
Local BJP leader Aditya Raj Saini, who was expelled from the party immediately after his name cropped up in connection with the incident, and his aide are among the accused in the case.
Six people have already been arrested in the case. However, Saini who was a member of the Uttarakhand BJP's OBC Morcha until his expulsion on June 25, is still on the run.
"The involvement of BJP leaders in crimes against women in Uttarakhand exposes the anti-women face of the party and the falsehood of its slogan 'Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao'," the Congress' Uttarakhand unit chief Karan Mahara said.
The incident has shamed humanity and tarnished the image of Devbhoomi, he said, adding that it is also an ugly reminder of Ankita Bhandari's murder allegedly by her employer and his two accomplices in 2022.
Pulkit Arya, the son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, is the main accused in the Ankita Bhandari murder case.
The state BJP, however, rejected the Congress' charges as "baseless".
"The BJP government has sent perpetrators of crimes against women behind bars. People who raped the minor in Haridwar are already in jail. The BJP man whose name cropped in connection with the case was immediately expelled from the primary membership of the party," the state BJP's media in-charge Manveer Chauhan said.
In the Ankita Bhandari murder case too all accused are in jail, he said, adding, "The Congress' allegations about the BJP giving protection to the accused are baseless and without logic." Targeting the Pushkar Singh Dhami-led government over several incidents of heinous crimes in Uttarakhand, state Congress chief Mahara accused the BJP dispensation of protecting Ankita Bhandari's killers "because of their affiliation to the party".
The Haridwar incident would not have occurred if the morale of wrongdoers was not up, he claimed.
"Ankita Bhandari, Hema Negi, Pinky murder cases, rape of a minor in Champawat, gang rape in Manglaur, attempt to rape a girl in Srinagar, rape of a minor Dalit girl in Dwarahat, rape of a woman after holding her hostage in Dehradun, gang rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in Bahadarabad (in Haridwar district) are incidents that shame humanity and tarnish the identity of Devbhoomi," Mahara said.
"The Congress strongly condemns the incidents of rape and murder occurring continuously in the state and demands the Dhami government to get the rape and murder of a Dalit girl in Bahadarabad (in Haridwar district) investigated by the CBI, Mahara said.
The 13-year-old girl was found dead along a highway in the Bahadrabad area near the Patanjali Research Centre in Haridwar last Tuesday, three days after she went missing. The girl's mother has accused Aditya Raj Saini of being involved in the heinous crime.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
