Priyanka Gandhi meets Unnao rape victim's family, attacks UP govt

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday blamed the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh for the death of the Unnao rape victim, following which she met the deceased's family members at their house and offered her condolences.

Hours after the death of the 23-year-old gang rape victim at a Delhi hospital, the Congress leader alleged that the "hollow law and order mechanism in UP" denied justice to survivors of sexual violations.

She said the UP government did not provide security to the Unnao gangrape victim even though a similar incident had earlier taken place in the same district.

She was referring to another alleged attack in Unnao district in July when the car in which a woman, who had accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar of raping her, was was hit by a truck.

In a tweet, Priyanka Gandhi said: "Why the victim of Unnao gangrape case was not given security keeping in mind an earlier incident of Unnao? What action has been taken on the police official who refused to register an FIR? What steps are being taken by the government to stop crime against the women, which take place on a daily basis?"

In another tweet she said: "I pray to God to give courage to the family members of Unnao victim", and went on to say that it was due to everyone's collective failure as a society that the victim was not able to get justice.

"At the social level, we all are guilty, but at the same time, this also points out to the hollow law and order mechanism in UP," she tweeted.

The Congress leader, who was on a visit to the state capital Lucknow, then rushed to Unnao to meet the family of the victim and extend condolences to them.

A number of senior UP Congress leaders were present with her during the meeting at the home of the victim's family. A huge crowd of villagers had gathered outside the house.

The rape victim succumbed to severe burns in Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital late on Friday night and the body is being taken to her village in Unnao district by road, her family said.

The woman was set ablaze allegedly by five persons, including two men accused of raping her, and had suffered 90 per cent burns. She was airlifted to the Delhi hospital from Lucknow.

Meanwhile, in Lucknow, police lathicharged Congress workers who staged a protest against the government in Hazratganj.