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Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday slammed the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over alleged police action against party leaders and protestors demanding justice for the Dalit woman student Lalita Gautam's murder in Meerut.
Lalita Gautam, a BA final-year student, went missing from the TP Nagar area in Meerut on May 15, and the matter was reported on May 16, police said, adding that her body was recovered from a sugarcane field in the Rohta area of the district on May 17. They said that the main accused has been arrested. Kharge, in an X post, alleged that UP Police placed Congress leaders under house arrest and "crushed the voice of those demanding justice." He flagged a rise in crime against Scheduled Caste (SC) women across the country. Mallikarjun Kharge wrote, "The brutal murder of Dalit student Lalita Gautam from Meerut has once again exposed the anti-woman and anti-Dalit face of the BJP's double-engine government. The victim's family is pleading for justice, but instead of listening to their voice, the government is busy crushing those demanding justice. According to NCRB data, between 2013 and 2024, crimes against women in the country have increased by nearly 42.6 per cent, and crimes against Scheduled Castes by nearly 41 per cent. In the country, every 2 hours and 3 minutes, a Scheduled Caste (SC) woman is raped, meaning 12 cases of rape of Dalit women are registered every day. These are not just statistics; they are proof of the growing insecurity of women, Dalits, and the deprived under BJP rule." He questioned Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over alleged action against the protestors and demanded strict action in the murder case. "When Congress leaders arrive to stand with the victim's family, they are arrested, placed under house arrest, and stopped with batons. What truth is the Yogi government trying to hide, after all? Why is the opposition being prevented from meeting the family? Why is there police repression instead of listening to the family and delivering justice?" Kharge asked. "The country had also seen in Hathras and Unnao how the BJP government suppressed the victims' voices and tried to protect those connected to power. Now, the same repressive attitude is being repeated in Meerut. The victim's family needs justice, not batons and house arrests. The culprits must receive the harshest punishment, and the suppression of the victim's family's voice must stop immediately! Remember... the rising tide of the voice of Dalits, the deprived, and the oppressed will soon uproot the BJP's throne of power," the X post read. https://x.com/kharge/status/2075480180353835439 Congress has accused the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of "beating up a protester who was already in custody." The police have maintained that they undertook "appropriate legal action" against the accused. On the recent protests, the police maintained that "some anarchic and illegal elements attempted to malignantly distort the case unnecessarily by inciting the deceased's family members and gathering a crowd under the pretext of submitting a memorandum, leading to the road being blocked." (ANI)
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