Farmers Movement Archive

Hathras gangrape: Leaders, students, activists demand justice for victim in Capital

Political leaders, students, activists and members of the civil society gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Friday evening, demanding justice for the 19-year-old Dalit woman who was gang-raped and murdered in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, and voiced concern over the law-and-order situation in the state. Smaller protests were held in other parts of the city, including CR Park, Vasant Kunj, Lodhi Colony and Dwarka.Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who joined the protest in Jantar Mantar, demanded capital punishment for the perpetrators. “The culprits should be given the harshest punishment so that nobody in the world tries to repeat such an act. They must be hanged till death. Some people have been feeling that attempts are being made to save the culprits and the whole incident is being covered...The FIR for rape was not lodged for many days, no proper treatment was given to her, and her body was cremated at night going against Hindu customs. Several actions have made people believe that the whole incident and the culprits are being shielded,” he said.The chief minister led a candle-light vigil on the Jantar Mantar Road along with his party MLAs Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, and senior leader Durgesh Pathak.In a statement later in the evening, he said: “There should be no politics on the matter, it is not ethical to play politics on this. When one says a rape has happened in Uttar Pradesh, another person says a rape has also happened in Rajasthan. This is no argument.”Student groups from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Ashoka University and Ambedkar University were joined by members of organisations such as All India Democratic Women’s Association and the National Federation of Indian Women, and the Dalit group Bhim Army.Politicians such as Left leaders Sitaram Yechury, D Raja and Kanhaiya Kumar, Yogendra Yadav, Jignesh Mevani, Kanhaiya Kumar and Chandrashekhar Azad also participated in the protest.Delhi Police registered an FIR under the Epidemic Act and Disaster Management Act for defying social distancing norms and gathering in large numbers to protesting at Jantar Mantar. They did not name anyone but said the FIR was against all protesters. Another FIR was registered against eight members of Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Congress at Vigyan Bhawan for defying social distancing norms and carrying a match towards BJP President JP Nadda’s house to protest against three farm bills passed recently in Parliament. On Friday afternoon, the organisers changed venue of the protest from India Gate to Jantar Mantar. Anticipating a large number of protesters, there was heavy presence of police and central security forces. All arterial roads connecting Jantar Mantar with India Gate were barricaded by the police. Residents from the satellite cities of Noida and Gurugram also joined.In the evening, when crowds started to gather, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation closed the entry and exit of the Janpath Metro station at 7pm. The exits of the Rajiv Chowk and Patel Chowk stations were also shut. Police barricades were erected and vehicular traffic diversions and restrictions were put in place at several places in central Delhi. Sitting in different smaller groups, the protesters shouted slogans demanding justice for the young woman and her family and the resignation of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. There were an estimated 1,000- 1,200 protesters at Jantar Mantar. Asha Singh, who had come from Balmiki mohalla in Bawana in north-west Delhi said: “Is being born in a so-called lower caste a crime? That woman and her family in Hathras need justice. The incident happened in a village 200 km from Delhi. 200 km is not too far a distance. Tomorrow it can happen anywhere. It has to be stopped now.”As the crowd shouted slogans, police personnel in riot control gear stood at a distance. Madhurima Kundu, member of the All India Students Association, said, “They can conduct polls in Bihar amid Covid-19 crisis but protests are being scuttled. The Dalit victim was cremated without even allowing her family to attend the cremation. This shows the state of the country we are in.”Shadipur resident Kusum (goes only with first name) was in Jantar Mantar with her eight-year-old daughter. “We learnt about the protest through WhatsApp messages. We had to be here today. It is a barbaric crime that has happened against a woman, against a person of the Dalit community,” she said.Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad said he would soon march to Hathras to meet the victim’s family.Speaking about the SIT constituted by the state government to investigate the case, lawyer Prashant Bhushan said: “Who can trust their SIT? The village has been cordoned off and we are getting reports that the family’s phone has been seized and they are not being allowed to talk to the media. This is unacceptable.”CPI leader and former JNU students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar said, “A bigger pandemic than Covid-19 is the patriarchal and casteist mindset of the society. That is why we have gathered here to demand justice for our daughters.”

Hindustan Times

03-10-2020

India