New Delhi, April 4 The Congress on Saturday accused the BJP government in Rajasthan of shielding the perpetrators of the gang rape of a 15-year-old Dalit girl in Ajmer and a life-threatening attack on her family.
Addressing a press conference here, the chairman of the Congress's Scheduled Caste (SC) department, Rajendra Pal Gautam, said that the police had failed to take action and alleged that atrocities against Dalits are rising in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.
He demanded immediate security for the victim and her family members along with compensation, besides registration of cases against police officers who flouted the law. He also demanded the arrest of the police officers allegedly shielding those behind the heinous crime.
Citing data, Gautam claimed that 76 per cent of cases of atrocities against Dalits in the country were reported from five BJP-ruled states, with Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan topping the list, followed by Bihar and Maharashtra.
He said the particular crime took place in July 2024, but came to light only after the minor victim became pregnant, following which a Zero FIR was registered in New Delhi and later, transferred to Ajmer.
Gautam noted that despite the victim recording her statement before a magistrate under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), no arrests were made for eight months.
He said only one of the three accused was arrested later, while police had briefly detained two accused under preventive provisions but released them later.
He further said that on March 16, ahead of a scheduled court appearance, the victim's family was attacked with axes after refusing a compromise. A counter-FIR was also registered against the family, which was later closed, Gautam added.
The Congress leader claimed that there were violations of provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, including a failure to provide protection to the victim under section 15(A) and the lack of action against officials concerned under section 4.
He announced that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will flag off the "Run for Ambedkar, Run for Constitution" marathon in Delhi on April 12 to mark B R Ambedkar's birth anniversary and appealed to people to participate in large numbers.