August 2019

10 August 2019
ASIA
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Mamata demands inquiry into
Unnao rape victim's accident
Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee on Monday demanded a
high-level
inquiry into
the car accident
of the
Unnao rape
victim
which left
her severely
injured and
two of her
relatives
dead. The car in which the 19-year-old rape
victim, her two aunts and her lawyer were
travelling was hit by a speeding truck in Uttar
Pradesh's Rae Bareli on Sunday.
Trinamool Congress supremo Banerjee also
came down heavily on the BJP government in
Uttar Pradesh and the Centre for failing to
ensure the rape victim's safety and demanded
Prime Minister Narendra Modi look into such
issues. "Every day they defame Bengal but
does the government have any idea what is
happening in Uttar Pradesh? What happened
in Unnao is unfortunate. Two relatives of the
victim died and she is in serious condition.
There should be a high-level inquiry,"
Banerjee told reporters here. "Every day incidents
of lynching are taking place. Fascist rule
is going on in the country. The Prime Minister
should look into them," she said. Earlier in the
day, several leaders from Samajwadi Party and
Congress demanded an investigation by the
CBI into the accident.
Unnao rape victim's road
accident raised in LS
New Delhi : Samajwadi Party member
and former Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday
raised the issue of the Unnao rape victim's
road accident in the Lok Sabha
but Speaker Om Birla did not let him
speak on the incident. Yadav raised the
issue when his party member Azam
Khan was asked to tender his apology
for his sexist comment against BJP
member Rama Devi on July 25 when
she was presiding the House. "Azam
Khanji has said what he wanted to say.
What about the 'beti' of Unnao? We
should also talk about that," Yadav said.
However, Speaker Om Birla did not
allow Yadav to speak about the road
accident in which the victim sustained
critical injuries along with her lawyer.
Two of her relatives were killed when a
truck rammed their car.
Yadav on Sunday had alleged that it
could be a conspiracy to murder the
woman who had accused BJP MLA
Kuldeep Sengar of raping her in 2017.
The victim was travelling to Rae
Bareli in Uttar Pradesh with her lawyer
Mahendra Singh and two relatives.
Both survivors have been on life support
since the accident.
Yadav also sought a Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBI) enquiry into the
accident. Meanwhile, Congress
General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi
took to Twitter and said: "So a woman
is allegedly raped by a BJP MLA. Her
father is beaten up and dies in custody.
"A key witness dies mysteriously
Unnao rape survivor: Family seeks CBI
probe, Yogi orders free treatment
Lucknow : Mahesh Singh, uncle of
the Unnao rape survivor has written to
the Yogi Adityanath government seeking
a CBI probe into the accident in Rae
Bareli on Sunday in which the rape survivor
and her lawyer have been critically
injured and two women killed.
Uttar Pradesh Director General of
Police O.P. Singh had said earlier in the
day that the government would readily
recommend a CBI probe if the family
wanted. One of the deceased, Pushpa
Singh, was a witness in the rape case
against BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar. ADG
Rajiv Krishna told reporters on Monday
that the state government had decided to
bear the entire cost of treatment of the
rape survivor and her lawyer who are
presently on life support system at the
Trauma Centre in Lucknow.
The ADG said that, prima facie, there
was no security lapse. He said that the
rape survivor had been given nine security
personnel, six of whom were stationed
in Delhi where she lives.
"We have spoken to the three of the
security personnel and they said that the
rape survivor had asked them to stay
back because there was no space in the
car," he said. Swati Maliwal, chairperson
of the Delhi Women's Commission, met
the family of the rape survivor at the
Trauma Centre on Monday morning. She
told reporters, "The condition of the girl
and her lawyer is very critical. The family
wants that they should be taken to
Delhi in an air ambulance. We are prepared
to take the responsibility and I will
talk to the concerned officials." The accident,
meanwhile, is taking a political
overtone with the Samajwadi Party,
Congress and the BSP seeking a CBI
probe into the same.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra has raised questions after
the Unnao rape survivor's accident.
Reacting to the accident, Priyanka
Gandhi took to Twitter, calling the accident
"shocking". She demanded to know
the progress of the CBI probe into the
rape case and also slammed BJP for not
expelling accused party MLA Kuldeep
Singh Sengar.
BSP President Mayawati alleged that
the accident was a conspiracy to kill the
rape survivor. Samajwadi Party President
Akhilesh Yadav and the Congress have
sought the Central Bureau of
Investigation probe into the incident.
Akhilesh Yadav questioned the absence
of any security personnel at the time of
the accident. A CBI inquiry was needed
to probe whether it was a conspiracy to
eliminate the family or just an accident,
he said. A delegation of Congress and SP
leaders also visited the Trauma Centre
and met the family members of the survivor.
last year. Now her aunt who was also a
witness is killed and her lawyer is critically
injured in an accident caused by a
truck with blackened number plates.
She herself lies grievously wounded in
hospital from the same accident." The
accused remains a BJP MLA and the
BJP government in Uttar Pradesh "has
the audacity to run a 'fearless Uttar
Pradesh' campaign", she said.
"Does it have no moral duty towards
its citizens any more, or was that never
on its agenda anyway?"
Calling the road accident a shocking
incident, she also asked about the ongoing
CBI inquiry in the case.
"Why is the BJP MLA still in the
BJP? Why the lack in security to the
victim and witnesses? Is it possible to
get justice from BJP government without
answers of these questions?."
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath on Monday said if the family
of the Unnao rape victim wanted,
his government was ready to recommend
a CBI probe into the accident.
Fagu Chauhan
sworn as new
Bihar Governor
Patna : Fagu Chauhan, a six-time
member of the Uttar Pradesh
Assembly, was on Monday sworn in as
the 29th Governor of Bihar.
He was administered the oath of
office by Chief Justice of Patna High
Court Amreshwar Pratap Shahi at the
Raj Bhavan here. Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil
Kumar Modi and several other leaders
were present during the ceremony.
Chauhan replaced Lalji Tandon who
has taken charge as the Governor of
Madhya Pradesh.
32 arrested
for beating a
man to death
in PATNA
Patna : The police have
arrested 32 people, including 6
women, in connection with
mob-lynching of a man here
on Saturday on suspicion of
being a child lifter and
appealed people to refrain
from breaking the law.
According to the police, the
victim was a mentally retarded
man. He was beaten to death
by a mob at Chulhaichak
under the Rupaspur police station.
Amid the swirling
rumour about the rise in child
lifting incidents in Bihar,
Director General of Police
(DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey
appealed the people not to take
law in their hands. The people
must inform the police instead
of thrashing someone over
some suspicion, he said.
Bihar has witnessed over a
dozen incidents of mob violence
in the past five days.
Two Sikhs on Saturday
were assaulted by a mob on
suspicion of being child lifters
in Patna, before being rescued
by the police. Same day in
Danapur, near Patna, two
youths were thrashed by a mob
on Saturday on suspicion of
being child abductors.
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