BJP hits out at 'tweet-friendly' Rahul Gandhi for silence over Hoshiarpur rape case

Questioning former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for his silence over the horrific Hoshiarpur rape case, senior BJP leaders hit out at the Congress' 'selective outrage'. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also slammed the former Congress chief's sister Priyanka Gandhi for remaining mum over the sexual assault of a six-year-old in Punjab. Sitharaman questioned if the incident had not shaken the conscience of the brother and sister duo 'who rush to every place that can help them politically'. 

"A 6-year-old child of a Dalit migrant laborer from Bihar is raped, killed, and body half-burnt in Hoshiarpur and it does not shake the conscience of the brother and sister who rush to every other place which can help them politically. Why is the brother-sister pair not going to and voicing horror in Hoshiarpur? Why not in Rajasthan? The selective cry of outrage that the Congress wants to show when it is elsewhere but not in their governed states is completely exposed," Sitharaman told ANI on Saturday. 

The Finance Minister also criticized the former Congress chief for not even putting out a tweet in support of the victim, taking a dig at his frequent tweets over other issues. "Not a word from the tweet-friendly leader Rahul Gandhi. No tweets on this, no outrage on this and no picnic on this," Sitharaman stated. 

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Javadekar hits out at Gandhis

Union I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar, too, hammered the senior Congress leaders for their silence over the rape case so far. Demanding strict action against the culprits, Javadekar remarked that instead of going on 'political tours,' Gandhi should visit Punjab and Rajasthan to take cognizance of incidents of crime against women. 

"Neither Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi nor Priyanka Gandhi visited the family of the victim in Tanda. They do not pay heed to the injustice done to women in the states ruled by their party but visit Hathras and other places for photo-op with the victim's family," Javadekar told ANI. 

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In a horrifying incident, a six-year-old girl was allegedly raped, killed and then set on fire, with her half-burnt body found at a home in Tanda's Jalalpur village, police said on Thursday.

The accused -- Gurpreet Singh and his grandfather Surjit Singh -- have been arrested on the charges of murder, rape and under other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, officials informed. 

READ | After Being Raped, Minor Girl In Punjab's Hoshiarpur Killed And Set On Fire