Former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai charged on Saturday that the Karnataka Congress government is standing with the rapists, and the police are turning a blind eye in connection with the Hangal gang rape case by moral policing vigilantes.

Speaking to reporters in Hubballi, Bommai stated that the gang rape case has come to light in Hangal town, and the Congress government is supporting the rapists. Cases of moral policing have also been reported. The gangs that engage in such acts are operational, and the police are turning a blind eye even as such cases are reported.

“We have been demanding an investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the Hangal gang rape case. However, the government is not willing to hand it over,” Bommai alleged.

“The case has not been registered under the Pocso Act. False medical examinations have been conducted. This is a medico-legal case, and the government will have to take responsibility for the victim. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claims that he had informed the local MLA. Is the government and the Department of Health inactive in the state?” Bommai questioned.

“Criminals are being encouraged under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s government. The vote bank is seen in those who are involved in criminal activities, and the government is protecting them. We are staging a protest condemning the Hangal gang rape case.”

“Similar incidents are occurring repeatedly, but the police are inactive. The government claims the investigation into the gang rape is on the right track. If that were true, why did they have to suspend two police officers? They are unable to ensure proper treatment for the victim. In incidents like this, the government should come forward to ensure the victim receives proper treatment,” Bommai stated.

The agitation is launched demanding an SIT probe into the incident. The Leader of the Opposition, R. Ashoka, is participating in the protest. If the government remains indifferent, a stronger protest will be launched. The police themselves are running gambling centres as they have paid hefty prices for postings. Justice is not provided to minorities and Dalits. Only criminals are protected, Bommai attacked.

Reacting strongly to the BJP’s demand for the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the sensational Hangal gang rape case committed by moral-policing vigilantes, Karnataka Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara had stated, “We can’t rule the state if we keep fulfilling the BJP’s demands.”

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said that there is no question of protecting anyone regarding the Hangal gang rape case.

In an alarming development, a victim of moral policing had released a video on January 11 in which she said that she was repeatedly gang-raped by vigilantes in Haveri district of Karnataka.

The homemaker was dragged out of a hotel after being seen with a person from another religion and beaten up in Hangal town on January 8.

The victim who belongs to the minority community stated that, when she was at the hotel, a gang of five to six men barged inside, questioned her and took her on their bikes forcibly.

They took her to an isolated place and assaulted her brutally and later, all of them raped her. Later, they asked her to sit in a car and the driver also raped her.

Her ordeal did not end here. She was taken to two to three places and gang raped. The accused later took her to a National Highway where she got on a bus.

“I want them to be punished,” she demanded in the video in an appeal to the police.

The victim’s husband has also come before the media and stated that his wife was gang-raped by the gang of vigilantes.

“They had kidnapped and inhumanly attacked my wife. She had opened up about this brutality with one of the family members. She had not told me,” he stated.