Hathras: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in their second attempt are been allowed to travel to Hathras and meet the family of the 20-year-old Dalit woman who was allegedly gang raped and murdered last month. The incident created shockwaves when the victim’s body was cremated in a secretive ceremony at 2.30 am.
Congress leaders made their first attempt to reach Hathras on Thursday when Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra got into a tussle with cops. The cops shove Mr Gandhi to the ground. The opposition took a strong stand and promised to keep on trying to meet the family until they succeeds.
According to reports, the police had been given definite instruction to not allow Congress leaders to cross the border. Currently, massive police have been deployed on all the entries of the village as well as the toll plaza, leading to many questions such as where were the cops when needed to deal with crimes against women in the state.
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi along with 30 Congress MPs, including Shashi Tharoor, set out from Delhi at around 2.30 pm to reach Hathras. They want to speak to the family of the woman, who has been left traumatized by the assault and alleged inaction of the government.
Priyanka Gandhi said, “Nothing in the world can stop me from going to Hathras to meet this unhappy family to share their pain,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted this morning. “If not this time, then we will try again”, added further.
Hathras Joint Magistrate Prem Prakash Meena said Mr. Gandhi would not be allowed to enter the village, access to which has been cut off by the Yogi Adityanath government as they are violating Section 144 (orders banning large gatherings). We are deployed here to control the unlawful assembling of people.