FIR filed against Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka, other Cong workers post tussle with UP police

In a big development on Thursday, the Uttar Pradesh Police filed an FIR against former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Vadra, 153 identified persons and 50 unknown individuals. Earlier in the day, they made an abortive attempt to reach Hathras to meet the family of the gangrape victim. They have been charged under Sections 188, 269, 270 of the Indian Penal Code and the Epidemic Diseases Act. 

The police alleged that the Congress workers entered into a physical scuffle with its personnel after Rahul Gandhi and others refused to heed their advice to turn back. It added that social distancing was not observed, with many people not wearing masks. Another FIR has been registered against 53 Congress workers including state president Ajay Lallu for allegedly damaging a police car and injuring some police personnel under Sections 332, 353, 427, 323, 354, 147 and 148 of the IPC. 

Read: Hathras Case: Mamata Banerjee Lashes Out At UP CM Over Late Night Cremation By Cops

Congress leaders stopped by UP Police

Thursday witnessed high-octane drama when Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and scores of party workers left from Delhi to meet the gangrape victim's family in Hathras. After their cars were stopped at the Delhi-UP border by the police, they started to march on foot. However, a large contingent of policemen tried to convince them not to proceed ahead in the wake of Section 144 being imposed in Hathras district. 

Thereafter, Congress alleged that Rahul Gandhi fell to the ground on the Yamuna Expressway after being pushed by the UP police personnel. Subsequently, senior party leaders including the former Congress president and Priyanka Vadra were arrested by the police. After being escorted back to Delhi, they were released. 

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.

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 Rape: Aligarh Medical College Principal Says Victim Was Referred To AIIMS, Not Safdarjung Hospital