Hathras gang rape case: India will rise against your unjust ways, Sonia Gandhi tells BJP

In a scathing attack on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for “inhuman handling” of the Hathras gang rape case, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said the nation would no longer tolerate its injustice and rise against it.

Stepping up protests against the BJP government, AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra demanded the resignation of the UP Chief Minister, while party workers hit the streets in the national capital and set his effigies on fire.

The “forcible cremation” of the gang rape victim in the small hours of Wednesday drew all round condemnation from political parties, who expressed shock at the handling of the situation by the UP police.

“What kind of justice is this? What kind of government is this? Do you think that you will do anything and the nation would remain a mute spectator. Never. The nation will speak against your injustice,” Gandhi said in a statement here.

“Is it a crime to be a girl. Is it a crime to be a girl of the poor,” Gandhi asked and added that she stood with the victim’s family, on behalf of the Congress, to demand justice.

Earlier, Priyanka said she was shocked that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister had to wait for a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order an inquiry into the Hathras incidents.

“What kind of a Chief Minister are you? Will you not be accountable? Are you not worried about the safety of women in the state?” she said.

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi also slammed the hush-hush manner in which the mortal remains of the victims were cremated.

“A daughter of India is raped and killed, the facts are suppressed and the right to perform the last rites is taken away from the family. This is insulting and unjust,” Rahul said.

Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev said Congress would launch a series of agitations against the UP Chief Minister and would not rest till he steps down.