Hathras gang rape: JK Mahila Congress holds candle-light protest

The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Mahila Congress Committee on Thursday held a candle-light march over the gang rape of a 19-year-old woman in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh and sought an exemplary punishment to the culprits. The protestors also condemned the "murderous assault" on Rahul Gandhi when he tried to reach Hathras from Delhi to meet the victim's family.

The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Mahila Congress Committee on Thursday held a candle-light march over the gang rape of a 19-year-old woman in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh and sought an exemplary punishment to the culprits. JK Mahila Congress President and former legislator Indu Pawar and other activists blamed the BJP government in UP for "criminal negligence" in the incident.

They charged the government with shielding the culprits and failing to take action. Raising slogans, the activists demanded capital punishment to all the culprits.

They termed the incident "highly barbaric and shameful" for the UP government.  The protestors also condemned the "murderous assault" on Rahul Gandhi when he tried to reach Hathras from Delhi to meet the victim's family. Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were detained in Greater Noida, just outside Delhi, when they insisted on marching to Hathras to meet the family. During the melee, Rahul Gandhi fell on the ground.

The Gandhis and about 150 party workers, held briefly for violating prohibitory orders, were let off after they furnished personal bonds, Uttar Pradesh Police said. The Hathras victim succumbed to the severe injuries she suffered when she was allegedly assaulted by four upper-caste men in the fields at her village in Hathras district on September 14. The accused have been arrested.