‘BHAJPA SE BETI BACHAO’: CONGRESS TAUNTS MODI GOVT

Taunting at the BJP's "Beti Bachao" (save girl child) slogan, the Congress on Wednesday said a cry gone out in the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh is: "Bhajpa se beti bachao" (save daughters from BJP).

New brand of the vigilante groups are mushrooming under the BJP's patronage to exploit religion/caste of the rape victim, threaten her family and even kill her father, its communication chief Randeep Singh Surjewala asserted at a press conference here.

He said daughters are not safe not only in Uttar Pradesh but other BJP-ruled states of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat where the vigilante groups are out to defame and harass the rape victims and their families.

Surjewala demanded immediate removal of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who not only protects his party MLA accused of rape but shut eyes to the rape victim even attempting suicide after nine months of fruitless struggle for justice and allowing the rapist brother kill her father in the police custody.

He expressed shock over the CM openly protecting Unnao's BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his accomplices accused of allegedly raping a 16-year old girl last June as the Police was prevented from even registering an FIR until the Court intervened.

Instead of arresting the MLA, the Police cooked up a counter-FIR against the girl's father as a "listed criminal" and subjected him to torture resulting in his death in the judicial custody, he said.

He said the autopsy report of the father further corroborates the brutality, by stating that he had 18 wounds and ruptured intestines.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson on Wednesday questioned the functioning of the state government. Deepti Bhardwaj said that the Unnao incident has disgraced the party, which is committed towards women empowerment. Bharadwaj further appealed to BJP chief Amit Shah to "save UP".

"No one is greater than Amit Shah in BJP and that's why I thought I should inform him what has disgraced our party. This is failure of UP govt because we fought for women's respect but risked it just for saving image of an influential person," news agency ANI quoted Bharadwaj as saying.