Priyanka slams govt over plight of Varanasi toddler

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Wednesday slammed the BJP government over the plight of a 14-month-old girl whose parents were arrested for participating in an anti-CAA protest defying prohibitory orders, saying it is the moral duty of the government to allow the child's mother to go home.

On December 19, people gathered in Beniya Bagh area of Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency, to protest against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), defying section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) imposed by police.

Champak's parents, activists Ekta (32) and Ravi Shankar (36), who run an NGO, Climate Agenda, were among those arrested in connection with the protest.

"To suppress civil demonstrations, the BJP government has shown such inhumanity and separated a small child from her parents," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet.

The toddler's health has deteriorated, but there has been no change in the BJP government's intentions, the Congress general secretary said.

"It is the moral duty of this government to allow the innocent mother of this child to go home," she said.