Hathras : Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien was pushed to the ground in a confrontation with police when he and three other party leaders tried to enter the village of a 20-year-old gang raped victim. O’Brien was on his way today to Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras to meet the family of a 20-year-old gang raped victim who succumbed to the injuries. The forceful cremation of the victim’s body in the middle of night had triggered nationwide outrage.
#WATCH: TMC delegation being roughed up by Uttar Pradesh Police at #Hathras border. The delegation, including Derek O'Brien, was on the way to meet the family of the victim of Hathras incident. pic.twitter.com/94QcSMiB2k
— ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2020
A 32-second video went viral on Social media, in which a man in a white shirt and a helmet was seen grabbing MP Pratima Mandal by the shoulders to prevent her from walking to the village. Derek O’Brien rushed to rescue her; thereafter the man pushed him to the ground. TMC MPs Pratima Mandala and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and ex-MP Mamata Thakur could be seen urging policemen with folded hands to let them enter the village. Derek O’Brien told the police: “Let the women go at least.” However, policemen had blocked their path.
According to the statement, Trinamool MPs traveled about 200 km from Delhi, and were stopped by UP Police from entering Hathras. The party statement said this afternoon, adding they “were traveling separately to express solidarity with the grieving family and convey their condolences. “We were stopped by the UP Police when they were just 1.5 km from the victim’s home”, as quoted by one of the MP of TMC.
Similar, incident took place yesterday, When Rahul Gandhi was pushed to the ground during tussle with the UP police. Congress leaders – Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – were briefly detained for violation of social distancing norms amid the novel coronavirus outbreak when they were marching to Hathras. The case was filed against Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra under the Epidemic Act on Thursday. The two leaders had planned to meet the family of the 20-year-old woman amid widespread outrage.
The 20-year-old died on Tuesday and suffered multiple fractures, paralysis and severe spinal injury after she was assaulted by four men of the so-called upper castes from her village on September 14. She had bitten her tongue when the men were trying to strangle her, said police officials.