‘Give Them ‘Y’ Security or I’ll Take Them Home’: Bhim Army Chief Azad
HATHRAS: The Dalit leader finally managed to reach the village and demanded an inquiry into the case by a retired Supreme Court-headed team. He asked the government to provide the victim’s family with ‘Y’-level security or he would take them to his home.
Een after being stopped by Uttar Pradesh police, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad managed to reach Bulgadi village in Hathras on Sunday to meet the family members of the alleged gang-rape victim.
Azad on Sunday (October 4) visited the family of Hathras gang-rape and murder victim and demanded government to allocate Y-plus security cover to them.
He also demanded the government to order an investigation into case under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge. Speaking to ANI, he said, “I demand Y security for the family or I’ll take them to my house as they aren’t safe here. We want an inquiry to be done under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge.”
Azad’s demand for a Supreme Court-monitored probe comes a day after the Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath recommended a CBI investigation into the case.
Other colleagues with him were allowed to meet the family inside. Only five people have come to meet the family along with the Azad’s convoy was stopped by the police administration before Hathras to keep the situation under control.
After this, he left his convoy and came to meet the family on foot. Azad told the media as soon as he came to the village, “I have not met them for a long time, the situation does not seem to be any good. We will brief the press after meeting the family.”
The 19-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped on September 14 in an assault by four upper caste men that left her critically injured. She died at a Delhi hospital last Tuesday.
The Bhim Army chief marched for about five km after he was stopped by the police for the first time when he was on his way. He was stopped again when he entered Hathras and was told “not all the people accompanying him could go along”.
Demanding Y-Plus category security for the family, Chandrashekar Azad this evening said: “When Kangana Ranaut can be given Y-plus security, meetings are being held to back the accused… I demand that the government arranges Y-Plus category security for the victim’s family. We have all seen that the CBI follows the government’s orders.”
“Under the present leadership, the CBI is being used only to scare people. We want a probe monitored by a retired Supreme Court judge,” he added. Yogi Adityanath on Saturday had handed over the case to the CBI.
Chandrashekhar Azad also held a massive protest when he was stopped by the UP Police for a second time when he had entered Hathras. Visuals showed him standing on top of a truck and addressing a massive crowd.
The Bhim Army Chief, also called “Raavan”, urged the administration to let him take the victim’s family along with them, a request that was turned down, Chandrashekhar Azad’s Hathras visit comes a day after the Congress leaders – Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – met the family at their home.
“Our struggle will continue till Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister [Yogi Adityanath] doesn’t resign and justice is not served. I urge the Supreme Court to take note of the incident,” he said at Jantar Mantar. The Bhim Army also led a protest earlier this week outside Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital where the young woman died of horrific injuries suffered in the assault.
Several opposition leaders have been stopped from going to Hathras this week. On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were stopped when they made their first attempt to meet the victim’s family.
The next day, Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’Brien and several other TMC leaders said they were manhandled “just 1.5 km from the victim’s home.”
(Bureau Report with Agency Inputs).
