Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh on Monday targeted the ruling BJP over the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-BHU molestation case demanding bulldozer action on houses of the accused apprehended days ago and asked why the car carrying these BJP workers never overturns. Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai said his party workers would gherao and protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency office in Varanasi on Tuesday against the alleged involvement of the BJP’s IT cell office-bearers in the case.
“Women and children are being molested and raped in Varanasi, the Lok Sabha segment of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. To bring the real face of the BJP, on how they are patronising their criminal workers, our Banaras district unit and city unit will demonstrate outside the Prime Minister’s Varanasi office on Tuesday,” said Mr. Rai in Lakhimpur Kheri, while undertaking the Uttar Pradesh Jodo Yatra.
He said the Prime Minister must apologies to the daughters of Varanasi for the shameful and criminal conduct of the BJP workers, adding that the arrested accused Kunal Pandey, the convener of BJP’s IT cell in Varanasi; Saksham Patel, co-convener of the ruling party’s IT cell; and Abhishek Chauhan, the working committee member of the BJP IT cell, Varanasi, were sent to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections so that they could not be arrested.
“The BJP criminals in the BHU case should be given such punishment that no one in the arrogance of power can misuse the protection of the BJP government against the dignity and identity of any woman. Every woman in Uttar Pradesh and the country is asking, why does the car of criminals supported by BJP never overturns,” said Akhilesh Yadav, president of the Samajwadi Party. Social media was also flooded with alleged photos of Kunal Pandey, Saksham Patel and Anand alias Abhishek Chauhan, with top BJP leaders.
November 2 incident
The molestation incident dates back to November 2, when the woman IIT-BHU student alleged that around 1.30 a.m. while she was taking a walk near the Karman Baba Temple with a friend on the campus, three men on a bike arrived, shut the victim’s mouth, took off clothes, kissed and recorded photos and videos. When she shouted for help, they threatened to kill her and ran away.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered under Section 354, assault or use of criminal force with the intent to outrage a woman’s modesty of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and the IT Act at the Varanasi’s Lanka police station the same day. The incident resulted in an uproar with students of the university holding a protest near the Rajputana Hostel demanding the immediate arrest of the accused and decisive steps to protect the campus. Days later, the Uttar Pradesh police added Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code. The police arrested the three accused last week.
