Meghalaya Congress condemns Hathras gangrape incident, demands justice for victim

Shillong: Members of the Congress unit in the state of Meghalaya on Wednesday staged a silent protest against the alleged rape of a teenaged girl in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras. The members of the Grand Old Party also strongly condemned the Uttar Pradesh government's treatment towards party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi who had gone to Hathras to meet the victim's family.

Addressing the gathering, the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee's (MPCC) working president James S Lyngdoh condemned the Hathras administration of denying justice to the victim.  The Meghalaya Congress leader also turned down heavily on the authorities for the cremation of her body without a mandatory medical examination. This was done to destroy "all the evidence", claimed Lyngdoh.

He also condemned the actions of the Hathras district magistrate for allegedly threatening the family of the victim in broad daylight not to press for an investigation into the rape.

Lyngdoh further condemned the Uttar Pradesh government under Yogi Adityanath, not only for trying to obstruct Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra who were on their way to express sympathy and solidarity, but also for physical assault Congress workers.

Several other prominent Congress leaders such as MPCC spokesperson and former legislator Kennedy Khyriem, former MLA from Jaintia Hills ECB Bamon, and MPYC president Richard R Marak were also present during the occasion.

On 14 September 2020, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped in Hathras district, allegedly by four upper-caste men. After fighting for her life for two weeks, she died in a Delhi hospital. The victim's brother claimed that no arrests were made in the first 10 days after the incident took place.

The incident took place on 14 September 2020, when the victim, a 19-year-old Dalit woman, went to a farm to collect cattle fodder. Several arrests have been made in this connection.

This shocking incident has caused a massive uproar across India, with citizens once again starting to question how safe women are in this country.

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