››IN POLL YEAR, RAPE TAKES POLITICAL COLOUR
Opposition BJP, Left gun for Virbhadra Singh’s government over shoddy probe by police
SHIMLA: The gangrape and murder of a 16-year-old school girl at Kotkhai couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time for beleaguered Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh.
The state is going to the polls later this year and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party was prompt to steer the public anger against the government and police for the shoddy probe into the matter.
The outrage against the crime gathered momentum when photos of the rape victim’s naked body were circulated on social media.
People took to the streets with student bodies affiliated to political parties resorting to candlelight processions, blockades and marches in Shimla and Kotkhai, the apple heartland that has been a Congress bastion.
Virbhadra, who is already facing cases of corruption, has come under criticism from his own party men.
State transport minister GS Bali demanded action against officers responsible for delaying the investigation into the rape and murder. It took the police nine days find a breakthrough in the case.
BJP leaders stepped up pressure on the government by demanding a CBI probe , saying they doubted the police special investigation team’s probe.
The protests at Kotkhai, Shimla and Theog bolstered their stand. Protesters went on the rampage at Theog on Friday, damaging police vehicles.
BJP Chopal legislator Balbir Verma led the protesters in raising slogans against the government and the police. BJP zila parishad member Neelam Seraikh staged a sit-in at Kotkhai police station in a bid to manage public perception.
Left with no choice, Virbhadra, who is also the state home minister, handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
“The mayhem and incidents of destroying of public property at Theog is politically motivated, as instead of having sympathies with the victim’s family, the matter is being given a political colour,” he said.
Upping the ante, BJP MP Anurag Thakur said, “The chief minister has all the time to visit Delhi time and again for his cases but has no time to visit the victim’s family. People have been forced to protest for their security. The CM should step down.”
Former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal also blamed the CM for the “deteriorating law and order situation”.
The Left mounted pressure on the government. “Today’s situation has put the entire police force under serious doubt. The state police chief should step down,” said Rakesh Singh, a member of the CPM secretariat.