Rahul Gandhi visits Boolgarhi to meet family of 2020 Hathras crime victim

Hathras (Uttar Pradesh) [India], December 12 (ANI): Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi visited Boolgarhi village in Hathras on Thursday to meet the family of the 2020 Hathras crime victim.

An SC/ST court in Hathras had acquitted three out of four accused persons in 2023, and convicted one person for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, in the case.

Meanwhile, BJP Leader Baldev Singh Aulakh asked Rahul Gandhi why he needed to instigate the situation there now when the Hathras issue has been closed by CBI. 

"The Hathras issue has been closed by CBI. Why does he need to instigate the situation there now? Why does he want to spread anarchy in the country? Till Yogi Adityanatha is the CM… Rahul Gandhi taking trips to UP is not going to make a difference… They have never apologized for the atrocities enabled against Sikhs by their family," Aulakh said. 

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak called Rahul Gandhi "victim of frustration," and accused the Congress leader of exploiting the situation and inciting unrest.

"Rahul Gandhi, you have a feeling of despair, you are a victim of frustration. You do not even know that the CBI has investigated the Hathras case. The case is going on in the court...Sometimes you want to visit Sambhal, Aligarh. You are completely derailed," Pathak said in a self-made video.

He further said that Uttar Pradesh is moving ahead rapidly to become the number one state in all the terms.

"Today Uttar Pradesh is moving ahead rapidly to become the number 1 state in terms of infrastructure, in terms of law and order. The law and order of Uttar Pradesh is discussed in the whole nation. Today we can say that the industrial revolution is coming in Uttar Pradesh. Whereas you want to throw Uttar Pradesh into the fire of anarchy, in the fire of riots, you want to incite people. Please do not do this, I request you that Uttar Pradesh is getting ready to become the number 1 state in the whole nation," he added.

In 2020, Rahul Gandhi met the family and also accused the Yogi Adityanath government of "exploitation" and unleashing "atrocities" on the victim's family.

A 19-year-old Dalit woman succumbed to her injuries at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital on September 29, 2020. Her family members had alleged that she was brutally assaulted and gang-raped in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras on September 14, 2020.

Her mortal remains were taken to her native place, where the UP Police and administration allegedly cremated her body without the family's consent or presence. (ANI)