Groups of students, traders and activists came out on the streets on Wednesday to express their anger over the recent Sardhana incident in which a girl was set ablaze by eveteasers when she refused to entertain their demand of attending to their phone call.
The police have arrested three more accused in the case apart from the two arrested earlier The victim is battling for her life in a hospital in Delhi.
The names of those arrested on Tuesday have been revealed as Deepak alias Chetan, Rohit and Gajraj while Rajvansh Bagdi and Devendra were put behind the bars two days ago.
Led by Jeetu Nagpal, president of Meerut Vyapar Mandal, a good number of traders, businessmen and students gathered at Begum Bridge area and blocked the roads raising slogans and demanding justice for the girl.
SHO Sadar Prashant Kapil and Lalkurti Raghuraj reached there and tried to control the situation and lift the blockade. But they failed to calm down the angry protesters who were later pacified on the arrival of SP city Ranvijay Singh.
Nagpal made a sensational announcement by declaring a reward of Rs 10 lakh for the head of the eveteasers.
“A case has been registered against him in Sadar police station for making this announcement which was not legal,” said the SP City, adding that the case has been registered on the basis of the video clip furnished to the police by media.
Members of the ‘Let Me Speak ‘ group also known as the thali gang also protested at Sardhana Tehseel. Neera Tomar and Atul Sharma along with school girls beat thalis demanding social boycott of the accused.
They also sent a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath demanding the gift of action against the accused on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. Members of the group had visited Badkali, the village of the victim on Monday and spoken to her family members and neighbours.
Members of Vidhyarthi Vikas Manch of Sardhana also protested against the incident and gave a memorandum to the SDM there demanding stern action.
To pray for the speedy recovery of the victim, a yagna was organised by the students’ wing of Samajwadi Party in the campus of Chaudhary Charan Singh University under the leadership of SP leader Atul Pradhan.
“The claims of safety of girls in the state are hollow,” said Pradhan, adding that an innocent girl is burnt alive in full public glare. He demanded relief of Rs 1 crore for the family of the victim. Sardhana MLA Sangeet Som of the BJP visited the girl in Delhi while DM Meerut Ramesh Dhingra has given aid of Rs 1 lakh to the victim’s family.