The Aam Aadmi Party's Mumbai unit on Thursday held a protest against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the brutal rape-murder case in Hathras. The protest was held at Mumbai's Azad Maidan.
"The Hathras rape incident was a caste atrocity inflicted on the 19-year-old Dalit victim by 4 Thakur men. Uttar Pradesh Police only made the situation difficult for the victim’s family. She was denied dignity even in the last moments of her life with her body burned with petrol past midnight without her family’s consent under the guise of cremation. There is an attempt to cover up the case and save the perpetrators," the party said in a statement.
It also demanded that the chief minister and the police officers involved must be held accountable for criminal negligence in this case.
Also noting similar incident of rape from Balrampur where another Dalit woman succumbed to her injuries, the AAP said these are two of the many incidents of violence reported against women in Uttar Pradesh.
Senior AAP leader Preeti Sharma-Menon said UP has become the capital of crimes against Dalit and women under Yogi's rule.
The Hathras Horror is the blackest time in Indian history because an elected chief minister is directly involved in covering up rape and murder, she added.
The chief minister not only denied justice to the Dalit girl who was raped, tortured and killed but he made his police burn her body in the stealth of the night, Sharma-Menon further said.
"To hide the evidence he has denied the family the right to perform the last rites, he has denied a mother the right to hold her child's body in her arms. He should resign and this probe should be held under a non-partisan SC Judge”, she said.
This is a brutal assault on the nation’s conscience and it is a matter of national disgrace, the party said, adding that the chief minister must accept responsibility of the failing law and order and immediately resign.
"Everyone involved, including the Uttar Pradesh police, must be held accountable. These incidents have affirmed the fact that the BJP government at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh have failed to keep their promise to protect women," the party said.
