Congress holds prayer meet for Hathras victim at Valmiki temple; Rahul, Priyanka to attend

In light of the shocking Hathras incident, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be attending a prayer meeting organised by its Delhi unit at the Valmiki Temple on Friday. The Congress party has asked its leaders to hold prayer meetings in Valmiki Temples across the country as the victim who was raped and killed in Hathras belonged to the Valmiki Community.

In Delhi, the Congress unit has organised the prayer meet at the Mandir Marg Valmiki Basti, one of the oldest settlements of the community in the national capital. The Congress has continuously hit out at the Uttar Pradesh government over the handling of the case and demanded justice for the victim.

READ | FIR Filed Against Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka, Other Cong Workers Post Tussle With UP Police

On Thursday, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi tried to visit Hathras to meet the victim's family. However, they were stopped midway after a tussle with the UP police. A case was registered against the leaders. Earlier, the Gandhi siblings were arrested by the UP Police at Yamuna Expressway while they were trying to meet the victim's family, who had died during treatment in Delhi's Safdarjung hospital on Tuesday.

Both Congress leaders alleged they were manhandled and roughed up by police personnel while they were marching towards Hathras. However, Noida Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Ranvijay Singh said that there was "no lathi charge" on anyone.

READ | Viral Video: Rahul Gandhi ‘dives’ Into Bushes, Congress Party Claims He Was Pushed

The Hathras gangrape

A 19-year-old woman in a village in UP's Hathras district was brutally gang-raped by 4 men when she was collecting fodder for her cattle on September 14. The victim, who was initially admitted to a local hospital in Hathras was shifted for further treatment to Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital. She succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday, September 29. Four persons have been arrested by the police in this case.

READ | Hathras Horror: Rahul Gandhi Arrested By UP Police; Had Alleged They 'lathicharged' Him

Amid huge protests outside the hospital demanding justice for the deceased woman, her body was brought to the village by the police at around 1 am on Wednesday. In an official statement, the Hathras Police refuted the notion that the body was forcefully cremated in the dead of the night without conducting the final rites. However, the victim's family claimed that its request for the body to be taken to the house and carrying out the cremation after sunrise was turned down by the police. Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court took suo moto cognizance of this horrific crime, seeking a response from ACS Home, DGP, ADG Law & Order, Hathras DM and SP by October 12.

READ | Hathras Horror: Section 144 At India Gate As Congress Workers Protest For Rahul & Priyanka

(With inputs from agency)

(Image credits: PTI)