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Amid chaos over the murder of a 20-year-old Dalit woman, a delegation of Congress leaders was stopped by the police at the Kashi toll plaza in Meerut on Monday. The Congress alleged that the administration was preventing party leaders from reaching the victim's family while allowing leaders from the ruling BJP.
Reacting to this, Congress leader Rajendra Pal Gautam, who was part of the party delegation, said they would fight "from the streets to Parliament" to secure justice for Lalita Gautam. The delegation was travelling to meet the family of Lalita Gautam when police halted them at the toll plaza. "The administration is acting at the behest of the government. People associated with the BJP were allowed to pass and meet the aggrieved family, yet we are being held back here. I want to ask: if you were to allow our seven-member delegation to meet the family, all we would want to know is whether they are receiving justice," Gautam, who is the AICC incharge of Uttar Pradesh, told ANI. He said the delegation was waiting peacefully for permission from the authorities. "Police claim they are consulting higher authorities regarding permission. They keep us waiting, saying they will let us know soon. We are waiting for their response peacefully and constitutionally. It seems as though they are trying to provoke our workers," he said. Gautam said the Congress would continue its campaign for justice and seek action against senior police officials. "We will simply meet the aggrieved family, demand justice for them, and ensure they receive it. We will ensure a case is registered against the SSP and that he is arrested. We will pursue this matter from the streets to Parliament," he said. The murder of Dalit student Lalita Gautam has emerged as a political flashpoint in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Assembly elections, with several Opposition leaders visiting or attempting to visit the victim's family. Lalita Gautam, a BA final-year student, went missing from Meerut's TP Nagar area on May 15. Her body was recovered from a sugarcane field in the Rohta area on May 17. Police have arrested the main accused and said appropriate legal action has been taken in the case. (ANI)
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