A 19-year-old Dalit woman died at a Delhi hospital on September 29, days after being raped by four men in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras. The woman was shifted to All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh on September 28 after her condition showed no signs of improvement.
The woman was gangraped on September 14 after which she was admitted to the AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh. The four accused have already been arrested.
The woman’s death led to sharp reactions from various sections of the society, including the opposition.
Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said in a Hindi tweet that the victim had “struggled with life and death in hospitals’ for two weeks. “Incidents of rape in Hathras, Shahjahanpur and Gorakhpur have rocked the state (Uttar Pradesh),” she further said.
“The law and order in UP has deteriorated to a great extent. Safety of women is non-existent. Criminals are committing crimes openly. This girl’s killers should be punished severely. @myogiadityanath (Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) you are responsible for the safety of women in UP,” she added in another tweet in Hindi.
Expressing grief over the victim’s demise, former chief minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati in a Hindi tweet demanded that the government “should provide all possible assistance to the victim’s family and ensure prompt punishment for the culprits by prosecuting them in fast track court”.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed her death as a matter of shame for the country and the government. Kejriwal demanded those guilty to be hanged.
"The death of Hathras victim is shameful for the entire society, country as well as for all the governments. It's highly sad that so many daughters are being sexually assaulted and we have not been able to protect them. The guilty must be hanged at the earliest," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) said that it has assured all possible assistance to the woman’s family.
In a video message, NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma said the commission had sought an action taken report from the Uttar Pradesh Police on the matter and it was told that four accused have been nabbed and charges were framed against them and compensation was also given to the victim.
Sharma added that the commission had reached out to the victim’s brother and has assured him of all possible assistance.
