Lucknow: Opposition parties on Wednesday lashed out at the Uttar Pradesh government over the alleged rape of a 21-year-old mentally challenged deaf-mute woman in Balrampur district, terming it a grim reflection of the state’s law and order situation.

Their attack on the government came even as the Balrampur police arrested two suspects following an encounter in the early hours of Wednesday, two days after the alleged incident.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X, called the crime “extremely heinous” and questioned the Adityanath-led government’s claims on maintaining law and order.

“Will those making such claims be able to look the public in the eye and say something in this matter?” he asked. He demanded every possible relief, assistance, and medical care for the survivour, and said the culprits should be given the strictest punishment without any “fake encounter show”.

The Uttar Pradesh Congress, in a post on X, alleged that the accused abandoned the survivor in an unconscious state barely 20 metres from a police outpost after the gangrape.

“In CCTV footage from outside the SP’s residence, it is clearly visible that the survivor was running to save herself while 5’“6 men on bikes were chasing her,” it claimed.

“Yogi ji, this is the reality of your women’s safety claims. If daughters are not safe near police stations and the SP’s residence, imagine the reality in the rest of the state.” The party accused the government of being “shameless and incompetent” and said criminals were acting with impunity.

In the harrowing 16-second CCTV footage, the woman, seemingly barefoot, was seen running on a dimly lit deserted road and men chasing her on motorcycles.

The Aam Aadmi Party also criticised the state administration, alleging that the incident shows that “daughters are not safe in Yogi ji’s rule.”