Trinamool Congress delegation stopped at Hathras; Derek O'Brien, MPs manhandled

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien was manhandled by joint magistrate Prem Prakash Meena and police in Uttar Pradesh when a party delegation went there to meet the family of a 19-year-old gang rape victim.

O'Brien, two other MPs Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Pratima Mondal and former MP Mamata Thakur were stopped by police around 1.5 km from the victim's house.

The delegation was headed to Boolgarhi village in Hathras to express solidarity with the grieving family of the victim and convey their condolences.

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After being stopped, the MPs asked the police and district administration officials to allow them to move ahead and they would not be violating any rules.

O'Brien told police, "we are maintaining all protocols. We are not armed. Why are we stopped? What kind of jungle raj is this that elected MPs are prevented from meeting a grieving family." He also told police that he would stay back but the women leaders should be allowed to meet the families.

When a policeman attempted to stop a woman leader, O'Brien intervened but a district administration official first pushed him following which he fell down. When he got up, according to video footage, some other policemen were seen pushing him. Mondal was also allegedly manhandled by Meena.

Later, the Trinamool Congress delegation marched to a nearby police station to register a complaint against the officials who manhandled them.

The incident came a day after former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was manhandled by UP Police when he was walking towards Hathras along with Priyanka Gandhi to meet the family of the victim, who died earlier this week. The cremation of the girl by the police in the wee hours without the presence of family had triggered a controversy even as police claimed that forensic examination did not confirm sexual assault.

With leaders attempting to reach Hathras, the administration has imposed Section 144 of CrPC in the area.