Rahul slams BJP over treatment of Hathras rape victim’s family

 New Delhi: Asserting that justice delayed is justice denied, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the promises made by the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh to the family of the Hathras gangrape victim have not been fulfilled till date.

Gandhi also shared a video of his meeting with the victim’s family in Hathras last week. “Justice delayed is justice denied! But something else is happening in Hathras where the accused are roaming free and the victim’s family is held hostage,” the former Congress chief said in his post on YouTube along with the video.

On September 14, 2020, the 19-year-old Dalit woman was brutally gang-raped by four upper caste men in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh and two weeks later, on September 28, 2020, the woman died in a hospital in New Delhi, he said.

“At 2.30 am the same night, without the consent of the woman’s family, the Ut-tar Pradesh police forcefully cremated her body. After a long phase of destroy-ing evidence and misleading the judiciary, today four years later, the accused are roaming free in the same village and the victim’s family is held hostage, still waiting for justice,” Gandhi alleged. The promises made to them by the BJP government of Uttar Pradesh have not been fulfilled till date, he claimed.

Neither have they been given a government job nor has the promise of shifting them to another place been fulfilled, Gandhi said. “In this labyrinth of casteism and power, it has become impossible for Dalits to even hope for justice,” he said.

The INDIA bloc, which respects the Constitution, vows that it will protect the Bahujans from these oppressors who follow the path of Manusmriti, Gandhi said. “We will get all the promises fulfilled, we will get them justice,” he said. In a post on X, Gandhi said, “Listen carefully and feel every word filled with des-pair of the family of Hathras rape victim. They are still in fear. Their situation confirms that it has become extremely difficult for Dalits to get justice.” “We are with this family - we will relocate their house and provide all necessary as-sistance,” he said. He also shared the video on Facebook.

“The family of Hathras victim was promised by UP’s BJP government that a government job - which was not given. Fast track court - justice still pending. And safe relocation - house arrest. We will get justice for the victim’s family - we, INDIA bloc, who believe in the Constitution, will make arrangements for their freedom and relocation,” Gandhi said. In the video, Gandhi hears the victims family who state that they have been denied justice and were not being allowed to go out of the house.