JOIN USRahul, Priyanka Gandhi leave to meet family of Hathras rape victim
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday left the national capital for Hathras to meet the family members of the Dalit gang-rape victim, who died on Tuesday sparking nationwide outrage.
Sources said both the leaders left Janpath, Delhi, the residence of the Congress president, and entered UP via the DND flyover, where a large number of Congress workers had gathered. Traffic was disrupted in the area.
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala is accompanying the two senior leaders.
In Hathras, the district magistrate has imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and ordered sealing of the district borders to maintain peace.
The Gandhis, who have been critical of the BJP-led UP government for failing to protect the victim, want to express their condolences and show solidarity to the victim's family in Hathras.
A 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men in Hathras on September 14 and referred to the Safdarjung hospital in Delhi on Monday with spinal cord injuries, paralysis and cuts in her tongue. She died around 3 am on Tuesday.
Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Congress media coordinator Lalan Kumar had said in Lucknow that a large number of party workers have gathered at Ghaziabad to receive the two leaders.