Priyanka Gandhi visits Unnao rape victim's kin, lends support to fight for justice

Congress' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra declared that she would fight for justice to the Unnao rape victim. The senior Congress leader visited the rape victim's family in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao on Saturday.  After battling for life at Delhi's Safdarjung hospital, the Unnao rape victim who was set ablaze while on her way to a court hearing on Thursday morning died at 11:40 pm on Friday.

"Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that she will fight for justice along with us. Our only demand is that the culprits should be given the death penalty, only then her soul will rest in peace," Unnao rape victim's sister-in-law told reporters here. The 23-year-old was airlifted from Lucknow's SMC government hospital to Delhi for treatment at Safdarjung Hospital on Thursday.

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Talking to the media after visiting the family of the deceased Unnao rape victim on Saturday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hit out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. She alleged that there was no fear in the heart of the criminal in the state. Revealing that the victim’s father and other family members, including a school going 10-year-old child had been threatened, she called upon the state administration to introspect on why such incidents were happening every day. According to the police, the five accused had allegedly thrown kerosene on the woman and set her ablaze when she was on her way to a local court for the hearing of a rape case she had filed in March. 

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “These people have beaten the father of this girl by coming inside the house. They have beaten him mercilessly. They have a 10-year old girl. She is the daughter of the sister-in-law. She has been threatened. The little daughter has been threatened that her name will be removed from the school. You should not dare to come here. You should not dare to go to school. The father was beaten. Their fields were burnt in June. This means that the family has been totally harassed. Thereafter, all this has happened.”

She added, “I have heard that the culprit is connected to BJP. You can find that out. It is possible that he is being protected. We have seen this before that influential culprits have been protected. I can say only this- such incidents are happening every day. Without making it a political matter, the administration and law has to introspect why such incidents are happening every day. Because today, there is no fear in the heart of the criminal in UP.” 

(With PTI inputs) 

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