The Dalit woman died in Safdarjung Hospital in the capital, New Delhi, on Tuesday, weeks after she was gang-raped by four upper-caste Hindu men in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras town.
The woman was left with her legs paralysed fully and hands partially after the assault on September 14.
Outside the Safdarjung Hospital, the Congress and Bhim Army activists staged a protest over the incident. The victim’s father and cousin also joined the dharna outside the Hospital.
The opposition parties Congress, SP, BSP, and Bhim Army hit out at the Yogi Adityanath government and demanded the UP Chief Minister’s resignation.
The four accused, Sandeep, Ramu, Lavkush, and Ravi who have already been arrested will now also face charges under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC, according to the Hathras SP.
Bhim Army
While Bhim Army staged a protest outside the hospital demanding the death penalty for the four arrested accused, the party said its chief Chandrashekhar Azad has been arrested and taken to an undisclosed location by the police.
Before the arrest, Azad has spoken exclusively to NDTV and said that no justice has been served in this case, as everyone is only focussed on Kangana’s house and Bollywood.
“I think, last night there was a conspiracy to kill her and suppress this issue,” Dalit leader added.
At the protest, the Bhim Army chief said, “I appeal to all members of the Dalit community to take to the streets and demand death penalty for the guilty. The government should not test our patience. We won’t rest until the culprits are hanged.”
Congress
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that “class-specific jungle raj” in Uttar Pradesh had killed another young woman.
“The government said that this is fake news and left the victim to die. Neither was this unfortunate incident fake nor was the death of the victim and the mercilessness of the government,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.
Party general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led the charge against the UP government over the incident, alleging that there was “no semblance of security” for women in the state.
“A Dalit girl who was victim of demoniac behaviour in Hathras has passed away at Safdarjung Hospital. For two weeks, she struggled between life and death in hospitals,” she tweeted in Hindi.
“You are accountable for the safety of women in UP,” Priyanka Gandhi said, referring to chief minister Adityanath.
Congress Rajya Sabha member P L Punia and former MP Udit Raj joined the protest led by Delhi Mahila Congress president Amrita Dhawan.
Thousands of Congress activists took to the street across various cities in Uttar Pradesh against the incident.
BSP
In a tweet in Hindi, Mayawati said, “The news of the death of Dalit victim after gangrape in Hathras, UP is very saddening. The government should provide all possible help to the victim’s family and ensure fast punishment to the culprits by prosecuting them in a fast track court. This is the demand of the BSP.”
SP
Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday condoled the death of the Hathras gangrape victim, and said “no hope” is left from the “insensitive government”. “A dalit daughter, who was victim of gangrape and brutality ultimately died. I condole her death. No hope is left with present insensitive government,” Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.
