Lucknow/Mumbai: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday met the family of the two Dalit girls who were raped and hung from a tree in Katra Shadat Ganj village of Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh.
The controversy has triggered a nationwide debate on the safety of women in rural India, also highlighting government and police apathy towards the victims.
Earlier, on Saturday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that he was willing to recommend a CBI probe into the gangrape and murder of two teenage cousins in Badaun. He said that he would send his recommendation in this regard to the Centre soon.
The CM’s decision on the CBI probe came an hour after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visited the family of the two gangrape victims on Saturday.
The relatives of the gangrape victims had been demanding a CBI probe into the incident in which some policemen were also involved.
The state government has already terminated the services of two police personnel in this regard.
The victims’ family has also rejected the offer of compensation by the state government. “We want justice, not money,” said one girl’s father.
In a related development, Urvesh Yadav, the fifth accused in the case, has been arrested.
Police said that out of the seven accused, five have been arrested so far. Two policemen Sarvesh Yadav and Chhatrapal Yadav and three others Pappu Yadav, Awadhesh Yadav, Urvesh Yadav are in police custody.
Mr Gandhi spoke at length to the family members. He supported their demand for a CBI inquiry.
“The family told me that they cannot trust the police in the investigations since some cops are also involved in the incident. I fully support their demand and the families told me that they wanted justice, not money, because money will not bring their daughters back,” Mr Gandhi said.
Mr Gandhi said that no amount of money could compensate for a woman’s dignity and honour.
The Congress MP, who was accompanied by AICC general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh Madhusudan Mistry, state PCC chief Nirmal Khatri and AICC scheduled castes department chairman K. Raju, also visited the site where the bodies of the two girls were found hanging from a tree.
The gangrape and murder incident has led to a massive outrage in the country and abroad and the Akh-ilesh government has received flak for not taking immediate action.
