It is the Uttar Pradesh government's responsibility to protect the family of the alleged gang rape victim, said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after meeting with the family in Hathras. Mr Gandhi, along with party general secretary and sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, spoke with the family of the 20-year-old Dalit woman who died in Delhi after allegedly being gang raped and tortured in Hathras. The woman's body was then cremated in the dead of night by the police in a secretive ceremony.
"Wherever something wrong happens, we will be there to ensure justice is served. No one can stop us," Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said.
Congress leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury KC Venugopal also accompanied Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to Hathras.
The Uttar Pradesh government had previously insisted that large gatherings - such as those of the Congress delegation - were not allowed in line with Covid management guidelines. These orders prohibit people from travelling in groups of more than five.
This was the Congress leaders' second attempt to reach Hathras - the first, on Thursday, ended in a tussle with cops who refused to let Mr Gandhi pass, citing orders banning large gatherings amid coronavirus concerns, and shoved him to the ground in the chaos that followed.
Here are the Highlights on Hathras case:
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Chhattisgarh Congress will hold a silent protest on Monday against the Hathras incident
in Uttar Pradesh, party leaders said.
We did not demand CBI inquiry in the case as SIT investigation is already underway, said the brother of the victim of Hathras case on CBI probe ordered by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
"The family couldn't see their daughter for the one last time. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should understand his responsibility. Till the time justice is delivered, we'll continue this fight," said Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra after meeting family of the alleged gang rape victim in Hathras.
The decision to cremate the 19-year-old Hathras victim who died on Tuesday, a fortnight after she was allegedly gang-raped by four men, was taken by the local administration, said Uttar Pradesh DGP HC Awasthy on Saturday.
Awasthy was commenting on the allegations that Uttar Pradesh Police forcibly cremated the victim without the consent of her family.
"I can't comment on it. The decision was taken at the local administration level," DGP HC Awasthy told ANI.
Earlier in the day, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Avnish Awasthi and DGP HC Awasthy met the family of victim.
"Chief Minister @myogiadityanath Ji has ordered the CBI to conduct a probe into the entire Hathras case," the UP Chief Minister's office tweeted.
"UP Government's Responsibility To Protect Victim's Family. Wherever something wrong happens, we will be there to ensure justice is served. No one can stop us," said Rahul Gandhi after meeting the Hathras victim's family.
"The police is just a part, and the mentality of the leader is responsible for this," he said.
Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Home Department Awanish K Awasthi and the state's Director General of Police HC Awasthy met the family of the alleged gangrape victim in Hathras today.
Hathras: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra interacts with the family members of the alleged gangrape victim. pic.twitter.com/1yPItFq1EG
- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 3, 2020
#WATCH: Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arrive at the residence of the victim of #HathrasIncident. pic.twitter.com/98xDRRSfY0
- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 3, 2020
Samajwadi Party workers, including its youth wing vice president Gaurav Jain and district media in-charge Sajid Hasan, were booked for violation of prohibitory orders in Civil Lines area here, police said on Saturday.
They demonstrated and burned an effigy representing the Uttar Pradesh government in protest against the death of a Dalit woman from Hathras on Friday evening, SHO D K Tyagi said.
The 20-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped at a village in Hathras by four men on September 14. After her condition deteriorated, she was referred to the Delhi's Safdarjung hospital where she breathed her last on Tuesday.
The SIT will look into all issues raised by the family of the 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, and the strictest action will be taken against the culprits, Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Awanish Awasthi, said on Saturday after meeting the victim's family.
A decision has also been taken for providing security permanently in the village, the senior officer, who along with DGP H C Awasthy rushed to meet the victim's family on the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, said.
He said orders for the suspension of police personnel, including the Superintendent of Police and the Circle Officer of the area, were issued on Friday within two hours of receiving the first report from the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Bhubaneswar: Members of All India Revolutionary Women's Organisation (AIRWO) today staged protest against #HathrasIncident, demanding justice for the victim. pic.twitter.com/y0Lre1gKRw
- ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2020
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre for running a "dictatorship" in the country and said the saffron party is a "pandemic" which is torturing dalits the most.
Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Saturday said there should not be any politics in the name of atrocities on Dalits which he claimed to have been going on during successive governments in Uttar Pradesh.
"What has happened in Hathras is most terrible. The incident of rape on a Dalit girl is a very serious issue," he said.
Mr Athawale, who said he will be meeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, stated, "On the Hathras case, I have to say that there should not be politics in the name of atrocities on Dalits. It is not right to propagate about atrocities on Dalits during Yogi government."
"It is right that atrocities are taking place but it had been so during the Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati and Akhilesh (Yadav) governments also," he added.
This is the first time in six months, since the COVID-19 outbreak in India, that the TMC supremo has hit the streets.
Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra cross Delhi-Noida flyway.
- ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2020
They are en route to #Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to meet the family of the alleged gangrape victim. pic.twitter.com/yk3nQBP501
Seeking justice for the 19-year-old girl, the family members of the Hathras victim spoke to reporters after two days when the media was allowed to enter their village." itemprop="description
Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Delhi-Noida flyway.
- ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2020
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra with other leaders are en route to #Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to meet the family of the alleged gangrape victim. pic.twitter.com/KxNvcIcGGp
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and three others have been allowed to travel to Hathras and meet the family of the 20-year-old Dalit woman who was allegedly gang raped and murdered last month, in a savage crime that shocked the nation.
Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reach Delhi-Noida flyway.
- ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2020
They are en route to #Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to meet the family of the alleged gangrape victim. pic.twitter.com/VLWrj6vCPX
Watch | Huge deployment of police on Noida-Delhi border as #RahulGandhi and #PriyankaGandhiVadra leave for #Hathras
- NDTV (@ndtv) October 3, 2020
NDTV's @arvindgunasekar reports pic.twitter.com/9uPtjjKD83
ACS Home Avnish Awasthi and DGP HC Awasthy meet the family of the alleged gangrape victim in #Hathras. pic.twitter.com/sCFUx3ZEP6
- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 3, 2020
Very heavy police deployment at Delhi Noida Border @RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi will be stopped here , closer of lanes by UP Police has caused massive traffic as well @ndtv pic.twitter.com/xtpYUiraOL
- Saurabh shukla (@Saurabh_Unmute) October 3, 2020
वाराणसी में कांग्रेस कार्यकर्ताओं ने विरोध के बल पर भाजपा की केंद्रीय मंत्री @smritiirani को बता दिया कि बेटियों की सुरक्षा से न तो खिलवाड़ बर्दाश्त किया जाएगा और न ही लीपापोती।#SatyagrahaForOurDaughters pic.twitter.com/A28gbf0obu
- Congress (@INCIndia) October 3, 2020
दुनिया की कोई भी ताक़त मुझे हाथरस के इस दुखी परिवार से मिलकर उनका दर्द बांटने से नहीं रोक सकती।
- Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 3, 2020