During the third day of his tractor rallies, protesting the new farm laws, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lashed out the Uttar Pradesh government over the Hathras gangrape case and said CM Yogi Adityanath should have the decency to call the incident a “tragedy”. 

Gandhi is protesting across Punjab under the banner ‘Kheti Bachao Yatra’ against the farm laws that have sparked a massive controversy among farmers. At the rally in Patiala on Tuesday, the Congress leader said, “The CM of Uttar Pradesh should have the decency to say this is a tragedy and will look into it and will protect this family and this girl.” 

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Talking about the Hathras case, Gandhi said, “If Yogi ji sees it as an international conspiracy, well that is fine, that is his prerogative. What I saw was a tragedy.”

The Uttar Pradesh CM on Monday had referred to “recent incidents” and said “anarchist elements” were trying to trigger communal and caste violence in the state.

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The Congress leader also launched an attack at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying “A child is raped and murdered, but the whole administration attacks the family and country’s PM does not utter a word.”

Before Gandhi launched his tractor rallies, the Congress leader and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met the family of Hathras gangrape case victim on Saturday. 

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The 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped by four men in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh on September 14. She died a fortnight later in Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital. She was cremated on September 30, which the family alleges that the local police forced them to conduct the last rites in the dead of night.

The UP government has recommended a CBI probe and quoting an FSL report, it has denied the woman was raped. On Sunday, UP police lodged at least 19 FIRs on charges ranging from attempt to trigger caste conflict to sedition in connection with the incident.

Currently, a three-member SIT is investigating the case.