Condemning the gang-rape and murder of a young woman at Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, office-bearers and members of the KPCC Scheduled Caste Department staged a protest in Hubballi on Thursday.
Staging the demonstration in front of the Mini Vidhana Soudha in Hubballi, chairman of KPCC SC Department F.H. Jakkappanavar and district president of KPCC SC Department Shankar Hosamani strongly condemned the incident and termed it a disgrace to civil society.
They said that ever since the BJP-led NDA government came to power at the Centre, a series of such inhuman crimes and massacres were being reported in the country. What was even more shameful was the apathetic attitude of Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath towards the victim’s family. Instead of taking quick action against all those involved in the crime, supporters of Mr. Yogi, supported by the government and the police, had launched a smear campaign against the victim and her family, which was a highly degrading act, they said.
The protestors sought the intervention by the President in the matter and capital punishment to all those involved in the heinous crime against the young Dalit woman. They said that the Uttar Pradesh government was behaving like a dictator in its bid to prevent the Opposition from taking the Constitutional path of agitation to seek justice for the victim’s family.
The protestors also sought an immediate relief of ₹ 5 crore to the victim’s family and urged the President to intervene. Subsequently, accompanied by president of the Dharwad Rural unit of the Congress Anil Kumar Patil and other leaders, including Sadanand Danganavar, Anwar Mudhol and others, they submitted a memorandum addressed to the President to Hubballi Tahsildar.