Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said those responsible for the gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman shall not be spared.
Adityanath further said prime minister Narendra Modi had spoken to him on the incident and asked for ‘strictest’ punishment against the accused“Those responsible for the unfortunate incident with the girl in Hathras shall not be spared. A three-member special team has been formed to probe the case. It will submit its report in seven days.To ensure speedy justice, the case will be tried in a fast-track court,” Adityanath tweeted“Honourable prime minister Narendra Modi has spoken to me on the incident and directed that strictest punishment be taken against the accused,” he posted in a subsequent tweet.
The woman died in Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday morning, nearly two weeks after she was sexually assaulted and tortured by four men from her village on September 14. The case has triggered nationwide protests, with many drawing parallels with 2012’s Nirbhaya incident in New Delhi.There was fresh controversy in the case with family members of the woman claiming that the Uttar Pradesh Police forcibly creamated her in the early hours of the day. The police and Hathras administration denied these allegations.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lashed out at the UP police for their treatment of the victim’s family.
“A Dalit girl who was a victim of demoniac behaviour in Hathras has passed away at Safdarjung Hospital. For two weeks, she kept struggling between life and death in hospitals,” Gandhi said on Twitter.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the incident was very painful. “The Hathras victim was sexually assaulted by some brutes and then by the whole system yesterday. It is extremely painful.” he tweeted.