About 1.5 kilometres away from the Hathras victim’s house near the Hatras border, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs were stopped by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Friday. A TMC delegation which including Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien, had travelled about 200kms from Delhi.
The Trinamool MPs were on their way to the village in Hathras, traveling separately, to express solidarity with the grieving family and convey their condolences.
The other MPs part of the march were Dr. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Pratima Mondal and former MP Mamata Thakur.
One of the TMC MPs who was stopped said, 'We are peacefully proceeding to Hathras to meet the family and pay our condolences. We are traveling individually and maintaining all protocols. We are not armed. Why are we stopped? What kind of jungle raj is this that elected MPs are prevented from meeting a grieving family.”
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The MPs were trying to explain to Police officials that they were willing to walk to the victim’s house, but the MPs were instead roughed up as seen in a video.
The 32-second video shows a man dressed in white with a helmet on, grabbing TMC MP Pratima Mondol by the shoulders to prevent her from entering the village. Derek Obrien is seen rushing to her rescue after which the Police throw Obrien to the ground.
Prior to the incident, Mondol, Dastidar and Thakur could be seen urging policemen with folded hands to let them enter the village. O'Brien was seen telling Policemen, “Let the women go at least.”
The Police administration however denies the allegations saying they requested the MPs not to walk ahead as no one was allowed to enter the village. The TMC delegation later held a sit in protest a few kilometres from the victim’s house.
