Rahul Gandhi Likely to Meet Alwar Gang Rape Survivor on 16 May

Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Rajasthan and meet the Alwar gaga-rape victim.

(Photo: PTI)

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is likely to meet the Alwar gang rape survivor at Thanagazi in Alwar district on Thursday, 16 May. Earlier the party sources had said that Gandhi will be meeting the victim on Wednesday, but due to bad weather he is likely to visit Rajasthan on Thursday, reported by Mirror Now.

He will be accompanied by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his deputy Sachin Pilot and AICC general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan Avinash Pande, according to party sources.

The Times of India quoted Congress sources and said, "The Congress president's visit is final and he will reach Thanagazi at 9:30 am."

The political storm grew big over the alleged crime after the BJP started to protest against the Congress government. On Monday, 13 May, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his charge that she was “shedding crocodile tears” over the Alwar gang rape incident and accused him of indulging in “dirty politics” and demanded his resignation for incidents of Dalit atrocities in the past.

Speaking to the media, Mayawati said, “He’s trying to play dirty politics over it. So that in the elections his party can benefit. It is extremely shameful. How can he respect others’ sisters and wives when he has left his own wife for political gains?”

After Mayawati’s reaction, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took a dig at her and said, “She is firm on becoming a Prime Minister. Her governance, ethics and discourse stoops to an all-time low. Her personal attack today on the Prime Minister exposes her as unfit for public life.”

Mayawati’s remarks comes after the prime minister at election rallies in Kushinagar and Deoria, Mayawati said, “In the wake of this incident, Modi is doing dirty politics.”

On the prime minister's challenge to her to withdraw support to the Congress government in Rajasthan, she said, “The BSP will, for sure, take an appropriate political decision in the absence of stringent and proper legal action in the case.”

In a press note issued, Mayawati also demanded Modi's resignation over cases pertaining to Dalit atrocities such as the Una flogging incident and the Rohit Vemulla case, taking moral responsibility.

What the Prime Minister Said

Hitting out at Mayawati for her remarks on the Alwar gang rape case at an election rally in Kushinagar on Sunday, Modi asked her “not to shed crocodile tears” for the victim.

“If you are serious, why don’t you withdraw support from the Congress government in Rajasthan,” he asked.

Even the Congress government wanted to suppress the incident involving a Dalit woman, he said, adding that the party thought “hua toh hua”, a reference to Sam Pitroda's remark on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Alwar Gang Rape Case So Far

The Alwar gang rape incident took place on 26 April, when the victim was travelling with her husband on a motorcycle when the accused stopped them and took them to an isolated place off the road. They allegedly beat the husband and raped her in front of him, threatening them of dire consequences.

Her husband claimed that he had approached Rajasthan police on 26 April after the incident, but an FIR was filed on 2 May. He had alleged that the police did not take action, saying that they were busy with elections.

The prime accused in the Alwar gang-rape case was arrested from Uttar Pradesh's Mathura on Thursday, 9 May, and another accused later in the day, the police said, as reported by IANS.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)