ET spoke to five of the 11 women MPs and 12 of 38 female legislative assembly members from the state.
While opposition MPs and MLAs said the state government had been “insensitive” and had put a woman’s credibility on trial, the BJP members, too, admitted that “there were wrongs committed”, although they said the matter was closed now as the Central Bureau of Investigation was probing the case.
Savitri Katheria, a BJP MLA from the Dalit community, said the incident was extremely unfortunate, and that crimes against Dalits would not stop “unless the daughter of every Dalit gets the respect she deserves, like every other daughter.”
Two other party members from the community echoed similar sentiments but refused to go on record.
One of them said, “I have already left for my constituency…there is a lot of trust building that needs to be done. In the last few years, there have been many convictions for crimes against Dalits which should be remembered too…”
Rita Bahuguna Joshi, another BJP MP from the state, was unavailable for comment.
Joshi is under home quarantine after testing positive for the Covid-19 virus, her aide said.
Keshari Devi Patel, a BJP MP from Phulpur, said the state government’s intent has always been to provide justice for women and the most oppressed.
“There are aggressors, evil elements in every society and we need a strict law and order system to deal with them… what happened should not have happened…the government is trying to ensure justice,” she said.
Rajni Tiwari, a BJP MLA from Hardoi, said it was unfortunate that such a gruesome incident had taken place and that the victim’s family had been kept away from bidding a proper goodbye to her.
“We are all parents…we know how that feels. It shouldn’t have happened to anyone. I can only wish the criminals get the worst punishment possible,” she said.
Manju Shivach, a BJP MLA who became the first woman in 32 years to win an assembly seat in Ghaziabad district, told ET that “organised crime under Yogi (Adityanath) had come down significantly.”
“The administration is run by officials who have their ways of working and that will take many years to change…it is a mindset…What is also worrying is that women and farmers have become electoral issues…,” she said.
Anita Lodhi Rajput, a BJP MLA from Debai, said the Congress party was trying to mislead the Dalit community.
“Time and again, in our meetings, we have been told to stress on women’s safety…no one can doubt the intent of the CM. A lot has improved…I have never seen the CM or his administration favouring any caste. In fact, he has only asked for the criminals in every case to be punished regardless of their affiliations…,” she said.
Rajput also added that it was important that “no innocent is punished.”
The upper caste community members in Hathras have started holding protests in defence of the accused in the crime who all happen to be from the Thakur community.
The Opposition, however, said nothing that the state government does now will erase how it had dealt with the Hathras case.
Aradhna Mishra, a Congress MLA from Pratapgarh, said the incident had proved that the state administration had no sympathy or empathy for victims of caste or gender crime, and that it had used its officials to shame the girl even after she had given a statement that she had been raped.
“It took around eight days to file an FIR, and despite the girl’s health condition being grave, the administration did not feel it was important to send her to Delhi for better treatment. On top of that, they have the audacity to say the rape never happened, putting the credibility of the victim on trial,” she said.
“It seemed like nobody at the helm of affairs even knew about the new rape laws. They took so many days even to pay a visit to the victim’s house, and then barricaded the village as if the family had committed some crime,” she added.
“In Hindu culture, it is the mother who puts haldi (turmeric) on the hands of the unmarried girl who dies…Can you imagine how the family will be able to live with the reality that the cremation of their daughter was done in the dead of the night by some strangers?”
Pinki Yadav, a Samajwadi Party MLA, said the way the UP government hurriedly allowed the last rites showed that it did not care enough for the beliefs of Hindus.
“What was the crying need to cremate a child so fast. The BJP came to power rising on the promise of women’s safety and though they keep talking about it in communal terms, the crimes continue,” she said.
Sushma Patel, BSP MLA from Jaunpur, said the administration is at the mercy of bureaucrats now.
“The Dalit community is specifically scared because it feels they are easy targets, and that they are humiliated like this…What the government should do now is agree for an SC mandated probe…,” she said.