The Congress on Monday lashed out at the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government over the car crash involving a rape survivor and her family.
A woman from Unnao, who had accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar of raping her in 2017, was severely injured while two of her aunts were killed after their car collided with a truck near Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
There were four occupants in the car at the time of the accident – the rape survivor, her two aunts and her lawyer Mahendra Singh.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the BJP and took a swipe at the Government’s campaign for girls in a tweet.
“Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao. A new special education bulletin for Indian women. Don’t ask questions if a BJP MLA is accused of having raped you,” he tweeted.
Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh launched a scathing attack on the state government questioning the “audacity” of the Yogi government to run a “fear-free Uttar Pradesh” campaign even as “rape accused” continue to remain legislators.
She further questioned if the government had any moral duty towards its citizens.
The police are investigating the case while treating the incident as both an accident and a conspiracy to murder.
The mother of the rape survivor has claimed a “conspiracy” by the accused BJP MLA to “to eliminate the family” as the truck that collided with the car had a number plate that was blackened.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Police has said that as per preliminary reports, the incident looked like an accident.
“Initial interrogation of the owner has revealed the truck was financed and the owner had not paid the money back. He wanted to hide the number from them,” the police was quoted as saying by NDTV, referring to the fact that the number of the truck was wiped out.
The police further informed that the UP government was paying for the treatment of the injured.
Meanwhile, Mahesh Singh, uncle of the rape survivor has written to the Yogi Adityanath government seeking a CBI probe into the accident.
The Unnao rape case hit the headlines in 2017 after the then 16-year-old girl alleged that she was raped by BJP MLA Sengar.
Sengar has been in jail since the past several months while the case is being probed by the CBI. Sengar’s brother has also been accused of beating up the victim’s father after tying him to a tree. Her father was then arrested and later died in police custody.
The victim’s uncle is also in jail in a separate case. The rape survivor and her family members were on their way to meet her uncle in jail when the collision occurred.
One of the deceased, Pushpa Singh, was a witness in the rape case against BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar.
The accident is taking a political overtone with the Samajwadi Party, Congress and the BSP seeking a CBI probe into the same.
BSP President Mayawati alleged that the accident was a conspiracy to kill the rape survivor.
A delegation of Congress and SP leaders also visited the Trauma Centre and met the family members of the survivor.