Demanding immediate dismissal of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the Congress on Tuesday accused the state government of trying to “cover up” the Hathras rape incident through an affidavit in the Supreme Court.The opposition party also claimed that the affidavit appeared to be a “copy paste” job given that it has references about New York Police Department (NYPD), ‘Black Lives Matter’ and cities such as San Diego and Phoenix, which are in the US.Addressing a joint press conference, Congress leaders Sushmita Dev, Rajani Patil and Supriya Shrinate said the entire country has seen the manner in which the Uttar Pradesh government has handled the Hathras incident, and done injustice to the victim again and again.
They demanded that all officers, including the Hathras district magistrate, be dismissed, alleging they are part of a conspiracy for a cover-up of the case.
“Every step taken by the Uttar Pradesh government was to cover up the Hathras incident. Today, this has been exposed in the affidavit. Its purpose is not for a court-monitored CBI probe but to cover up the incident that started on September 14,” Dev told reporters at the Congress headquarters in Delhi.
“Stop the cover up. Congress party stands by its demand that Yogi Adityanath should be dismissed immediately. The district magistrate and every officer who is part of this conspiracy to hush up such a brutal case of rape should be dismissed and not given any other responsibility pending investigation,” she said.Patil alleged the Uttar Pradesh government’s act of a cover-up of the incident is “shameful” and urged the people to not allow any atrocities against women and pack up the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.
Shrinate said there is no official notification for a CBI inquiry into the Hathras incident as announced by the government while the SIT probe is on.
“The manner in which victim-shaming is being done as part of a conspiracy and she is being trolled by BJP and the government and police, there should be a probe into this,” she said.
Shrinate also cited the change in rape laws done by the UPA government that “presence of semen or penetration is not necessary now” and even an attempt is considered as rape.She alleged that the state government is trying to make it a case of international conspiracy through “fabricated evidence” and perpetrate caste violence.
Shrinate read out certain parts of the affidavit that mentions about black people and cities such as San Diego and Phoenix, which are in the United States. There also mentions of the NYPD and ‘Black Lives Matter’ in it, she added.
Shrinate said the same evidence attached as annexures in the affidavit has been “fabricated” by the Uttar Pradesh government and has been copied from the ‘Black Lives Movement in the US’.
“It is happening as the entire media and opposition are asking questions and the government is talking of a cover up and international conspiracy. Stop those FIRs based on these concoctions,” she said.Dev asked the Uttar Pradesh government to prove to the victim’s family that the body cremated in a hurry by the police at 2.30 am actually is of their daughter’s.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately dismiss Yogi Adityanath,” she demanded.
The Mahila Congress chief alleged that it is “shameful” that the state government is claiming that no rape took place and that her last rites were done in front of the family with proper rituals.
“This is a clear case of contempt of court,” she said.
Dev said the government has cited reports saying there is no sign suggesting rape but the teenager in her dying declaration stated that she was gang-raped.