West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the gangrape and assault of the 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh was “barbaric and shameful”, and it exposes the BJP.
“(I) have no words to condemn the barbaric and shameful incident at Hathras involving a young Dalit girl. My deepest condolences to the family,” Mamata Banerjee tweeted.
Hitting out at the BJP, she said the manner in which the Hathras gangrape victim was cremated exposes the BJP’s lofty promises for votes.
“More shameful is the forceful cremation (of the victim) without the family’s presence or consent, exposing those who use slogans and lofty promises for votes,” she said without naming the party.
Have no words to condemn the barbaric & shameful incident at Hathras involving a young Dalit girl. My deepest condolences to the family.
More shameful is the forceful cremation without the family’s presence or consent, exposing those who use slogans & lofty promises for votes.— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) October 1, 2020
The victim died early Tuesday morning at a Delhi hospital. Later in the evening, a team of the UP Police took her body to her native village. Her family had reportedly demanded that they would like to take her to their home.
However, despite the demands and subsequent protests, the police burnt the victim’s body on a pyre around 3 am on Wednesday and did not allow the family to attend the cremation.
Attacking the BJP further, Mamata Banerjee, who is on a three-day tour of North Bengal, said those who lecture her about Bengal’s law and order must turn their attention to Uttar Pradesh. “Bengal is the most peaceful state in India,” she said while addressing the media in Siliguri.
Other leaders of the Trinamool Congress too have hit out at the BJP over the UP government’s handling of the Hathras gangrape case. The BJP is currently in power in UP.
The TMC also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remaining silent on the Hathras gangrape case.
“An unspeakable crime committed in Hathras under Narendra Modi ji’s reign and he was silent,” Trinamool Youth Congress president and MP Abhishek Banerjee said in a tweet.
Senior TMC leader Derek O’ Brien posted a video raising questions with facts on rape cases in the country and states.
TMC Lok Sabha MP Mouha Mouitra tweeted, “Cremating Hathras rape victim in the dead of the night without informing the family: Modi’s New India; Yogi’s New Laws; India’s New Low.”
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