Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday said that her party will launch a protest if the men who had brutally thrashed and molested a 16-year-old Dalit girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi district were not arrested within 24 hours.
“This incident of brutal thrashing of a Dalit girl in Amethi is condemnable,” Gandhi said in a tweet. “[Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister] Adityanathji on an average 34 crime incidents against Dalits take place every day under your rule and 135 against women, yet your law and order is sleeping.”
On Tuesday, the police had booked three men, identified as Suraj Soni, Shivam and Sakal, in relation to the incident. The action was taken after a purported video of the minor being assaulted was widely shared on social media.
The case was registered under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe [Prevention of Atrocities] Act.
On Wednesday, Amethi Deputy Superintendent of Police Arpit Kapoor said that one of the accused persons had been arrested, reported PTI. He added that police teams had been formed to arrest the other men.
According to the National Crime Record Bureau’s 2020 data, Uttar Pradesh recorded the recorded the highest number of crimes against women among all states. In 2019 too, the state was on top of the list. However, the number of crimes against women in the country’s largest state fell from 59,853 in 2019 to 49,385 in 2020.
Uttar Pradesh also recorded the highest number of crimes against the Scheduled Caste community in 2020.
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