'When sisters sought justice, their families were destroyed': Priyanka on Dalit woman's death in MP

New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday slammed the Modi government over the death of the sister of a slain Dalit youth in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar, alleging that whenever sisters against whom atrocities were committed sought justice, their families were 'destroyed'.

Anjana Ahirwar, who had lodged a case last August claiming her brother, a Dalit, was beaten to death by some persons pressuring her for a compromise in a harassment case, died on Sunday after she fell from an ambulance carrying her uncle's body in Sagar.

Notably, Anjana's uncle Rajendra Ahirwar was beaten to death on Saturday night by some persons over an old enmity, police sources said.

In a post in Hindi on X, Priyanka Gandhi said, "This incident that happened with a Dalit sister in Madhya Pradesh is heart-wrenching. The people of BJP are after the Constitution because they do not want that women of the country, Dalits, tribals and backward people should live with dignity, nor their complaints heard anywhere."

"Be it the wrestler sisters in Delhi, the victims of Hathras-Unnao or this horrific incident, wherever women were tortured, Narendra Modi ji and his government saved the accused. If the sisters on whom atrocities were committed sought justice, their families were destroyed," the Congress general secretary said.

The women of the country are not going to remain silent now, she said.

In a post in Hindi on X, the Congress alleged that BJP's 'jungle raj' was prevailing in Madhya Pradesh. "First, BJP leaders sexually harassed a Dalit girl and then threatened her not to tell this to anyone. The frightened girl told this to her family and after much effort an FIR was lodged. After this, BJP leaders started pressuring the Dalit family for compromise. When the family did not agree to the compromise, the girl's brother was beaten to death," the party alleged.

When the girl's mother came to intervene, she was 'stripped', it claimed.

"After the murder of the Dalit girl's brother, BJP leaders were putting a lot of pressure on the family for a compromise. The girl's uncle was called three days ago to settle the matter and he was murdered there," the party said.

Now the news is that the Dalit girl was coming to the village with her uncle's body in an ambulance and on the way, she died after falling from the ambulance, it said.

"Within a year, two murders and the suspicious death of a Dalit girl who had accused BJP leaders of sexual harassment. Narendra Modi ji, did this news reach you? The law is being openly flouted in your Jungle Raj," charged the party.

"Daughters are being harassed and people from your party are getting murdered those who are not compromising," the Congress said.

"You have made the country most unsafe for daughters," the party alleged.

"Rajendra Ahirwar, 24, died of injuries he had sustained in a clash between two groups under Khurai police station limits," Additional Superintendent of Police Lokesh Sinha told reporters.

Anjana had alleged that her brother Nitin Ahirwar alias Lalu was killed on August 24, 2023, by some people who used to harass her, prompting a sit-in protest by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in Barodia Nonagir village.

"Anjana fell from the ambulance carrying the body of Rajendra Ahirwar to their village after the postmortem in Sagar. Their family members were accompanying the body," said Sinha.