Ink Thrown at AAP’s Sanjay Singh in Hathras; Party Slams Yogi Govt

Singh was speaking to reporters after meeting the Hathras rape victim’s family when the incident occurred.

Aam Aadmi Party MP and leader Sanjay Singh was attacked with ink in Hathras, where he’d gone to meet the family of the 19-year-old Dalit girl whose alleged gang rape and murder has caused a political storm.

(Photo: Raghav Chadha/Twitter)

Aam Aadmi Party MP and leader Sanjay Singh was attacked with ink in Hathras, where he'd gone to meet the family of the 19-year-old Dalit girl whose alleged gang rape and murder has caused a political storm.

The incident took place after Singh, along with party colleague Rakhi Birla, had met the victim's family.

"Cowardly act in Hathras. Police took us to 'Gudiya's' house and while returning, we were attacked. MLA Rakhi Birla, Ajay Dutt, and Faisal Lala were with me. Yogi Ji, you are not Thakur (caste), you are a coward. File cases against me, baton charge, get me murdered but the fight for justice will go on," said Singh in a tweet about the incident.

Singh was speaking to reporters after meeting the family when a man, identified as Deepak Sharma, threw ink of him and shouted slogans, reports NDTV.

The attacker was then tackled by AAP supporters at the spot and handed over to the police.

Other AAP leaders also took to Twitter to condemn the incident.

"By throwing ink on MP Sanjay Singh, the Yogi government has proved its cowardice. Remember, we will write history with the same ink," tweeted AAP MLA and spokesperson Raghav Chadha.

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has faced massive flak for its handling of the Hathras case, which includes blocking politicians and Opposition leaders from meeting the victim's family.

Last week, Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi were stopped from going to meet the family by the Uttar Pradesh police. They, however, did succeed a few days later. In a scuffle with the police on the day they were stopped, Rahul was allegedly pushed to the ground.

A delegation of the Trinamool Congress was also stopped by the police earlier from meeting the victim's family. In this case too, videos showed Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien falling to the ground after a physical altercation with the cops. The TMC has also alleged that male cops misbehaved with female MP Pratima Mondal.

Another recent video shows the police lathi-charging RLD leader Jayant Chaudhury and his coterie in Hathras.

(With inputs from NDTV)