Amid spiraling outrage over the death of a woman gang-raped and tortured in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras and her 2.30 am cremation by policemen against her family's wishes, a BJP leader's comment on action against the accused raised eyebrows.
While assuring action against the four men accused of the savage assault on the 20-year-old woman, which left her with broken bones all over her body, paralysis and breathing difficulties, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya appeared to hint at the encounter killing of notorious gangster Vikas Dubey in July.
"The accused have been arrested. The case has been sent to a fast-track court. The accused will be sent to jail... Yogi (Adityanath) is the Chief Minister. Main jaanta hun ki unke pradesh mein kabhi bhi gaadi palat jaati hai (I know that in his state, a car can overturn anytime)," Mr Vijayvargiya was quoted as telling news agency ANI.
Though he did not specify or take any names, many linked the comment to the way Vikas Dubey, wanted for the killing of eight policemen, was shot dead after his arrest by Uttar Pradesh policemen.
Dubey was shot dead on July 10 while he was being brought back to UP in a police convoy. The police said the car that had Dubey swerved and flipped. The gangster, they claimed, took advantage of the accident, snatched the gun of a policeman, tried to escape and opened fire. That is when he was shot dead, claimed the UP cops.
Amid questions over the killing, the Supreme Court asked for a report.
The UP police are once again under scrutiny over the way they handled the Hathras gang-rape. The woman's family alleges they were slow to react and initially dismissed her injuries as "drama".
Last night, the police took away her body and cremated her forcibly, refusing to hand it over to her family; her father had begged to take the body home for last rites in the morning. When the woman was cremated, only the police were present and the family had been barricaded in their home.
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