Uttar Pradesh: Prohibitory orders imposed in Ghazipur after death of teenage girl

The administration in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur has imposed prohibitory orders in the district till April 30, restricting any demonstration linked to the death of a teenage girl on April 15, The Indian Express reported on Monday.

Varanasi Zone Additional Director General of Police Piyush Mordia said that the 17-year-old girl had gone missing on the night of April 14. Her body was found about 3 km from her home in the river Ganga the next morning.

Her family has alleged that she was sexually assaulted and murdered, PTI reported.

On Friday, the Opposition Samajwadi Party announced that a delegation led by party chief Akhilesh Yadav would visit the village and meet the girl’s family on Wednesday. Earlier, a delegation from the party tried to reach the village but had been attacked, The Indian Express reported.

Yadav on Sunday also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, alleging that attempts were being made to “change statements” of the girl’s family.

In a social media post, Yadav said that Uttar Pradesh has “never seen such a weak chief minister who pressures poor, helpless victims to change their statements”.

The Samajwadi Party chief further asked why there was a delay in filing the first information report in the case and why statements had been allegedly being altered.

Yadav also shared a video of the girl’s father on social media, in which he can be heard purportedly accusing a village head of intimidating the family.

On Saturday, the father had told reporters that he did not want political leaders to visit his home for “political mileage” and added that the district officials have assured him of strict action against the persons accused in the matter, The Indian Express reported.

Amid tensions after the death, District Magistrate Anupam Shukla told the newspaper that no political party, group or person will be “allowed to gather, enter the district to stage protests or organise demonstrations related to the incident”.

The state government also claimed that “unverified rumours” were being spread by certain “mischievous elements”, PTI reported.

It alleged that Opposition parties were attempting to “sensationalise” the matter, adding that this had raised apprehensions about the situation in the district becoming volatile.

“Given the gravity of the situation, Ghazipur District Magistrate Anupam Shukla has imposed Section 163 of BNSS [power to issue order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger] across the district,” the news agency quoted the statement as saying.

No political party or group is permitted to gather anywhere in the district under this provision, according to the statement.

It added that for maintaining law and order, no person or delegation shall visit the village to offer their condolences to the family, PTI reported.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had earlier called for a high-level inquiry into “the rape and brutal murder” of the girl. Party leader Priyanka Gandhi had also alleged that there was initially a “reluctance” to register a case and claimed that the girl’s family had received threats.

Case against Opposition’s social media accounts

The police registered cases against social media handles of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party for allegedly spreading rumours by making “baseless, misleading and false” remarks about the case, PTI reported on Monday.

The social media accounts were posting false information, the police alleged, adding that the case has been filed for statements allegedly conducing to public mischief.

“This has created an atmosphere of tension in the village,” PTI quoted the police as having claimed.