Budaun gang-rape: Congress demands immediate arrest of accused, ex gratia to victim's kin

The Congress on Wednesday demanded immediate arrest of the accused in the gang-rape and killing of a 50-year-old anganwadi worker in Uttar Pradesh's Budaun and sought a judicial probe by a sitting High Court judge into the incident.

It also demanded that the victim's family be given a compensation of Rs 50 lakh.

The woman was gang-raped and killed allegedly by a priest and his two accomplices on Sunday when she had gone to a temple. Police said that apart from injuries in her private parts, the victim's legs and ribcage bones were found fractured.

While the priest is on the run, his two accomplices were arrested on Tuesday night after post mortem confirmed rape, police said Wednesday.

"We demand that the main accused in the case be arrested within 24 hours and brought to book through trial in a fast-track court. We also demand a judicial probe into the incident by a sitting judge of the High Court to ascertain the truth in the case.

"The victim's family should be provided with legal assistance and also financial aid of Rs 50 lakh immediately," Congress leader Alka Lamba told reporters.

Party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hit out at the Yogi Adityanath government over the gang-rape and murder, alleging that there was something wrong in the intentions of the Uttar Pradesh administration on the issue of women's security.

"In Hathras, the government did not listen to the voice of the complainant. The government saved officials and suppressed the victim's voice," she tweeted.

"In Budaun, the police station officer did not listen to the one pleading and did not even examine the place of the incident. There is something wrong in the UP government's intentions on women's security," Priyanka Gandhi added.

Lamba, at a press conference, said contrary claims were being made by the BJP about bringing 'Ram Rajya' in Uttar Pradesh. The Badaun incident is shocking and serious, as it comes close on the heels of Hathras gang-rape case, she said.

"The 50-year-old victim was not just gang-raped by the priest and his accomplices but also murdered and the body was found in a well," Lamba said.

She claimed that according to the woman's family, the police did not reach the spot on time, tried to hush up the case and then termed it as a suicide.

"One wonders why the governor, who is a woman, and the Union Woman and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani who is also an MP from Uttar Pradesh, have not given any statement on the incident yet," Lamba said.

She also alleged that one cannot expect safety and security of women under the BJP government as one incident after another is being reported in Uttar Pradesh.