Congress leader to meet Uttar Pradesh Dalit rape victim
By IANSWednesday, December 29, 2010
LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi said Wednesday she will visit a Dalit girl who was jailed after accusing a ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator of Banda district of raping her.
“It is a matter of shame that a Dalit girl has been raped by a ruling party MLA (member of legislative assembly) and a Dalit woman chief minister, who claims to champion the cause of the downtrodden, has turned a blind eye to the whole affair,” Joshi told reporters here.
“I am going to Banda to meet the girl in jail and we will mobilise a huge protest unless the culprit is put behind bars and the girl is released,” she added.
The girl had alleged last week that Purshottam Narain Dwivedi had raped her. But she found herself behind bars after the legislator lodged a theft case against her.
Local Congress legislator Vivek Kumar Singh had earlier staged a dharna to protest against the case in Banda, some 180 km from here.
