Kanimozhi leads DMK's candle light march over Hathras incident

The DMK women's wing took out a candle light march here on Monday, protesting the Hathras incident with its secretary Kanimozhi demanding justice to the 19-year old woman who died after being assaulted and allegedly gang-raped in the Uttar Pradesh village.

The DMK women's wing took out a candle light march here on Monday, protesting the Hathras incident with its secretary Kanimozhi demanding justice to the 19-year old woman who died after being assaulted and allegedly gang-raped in the Uttar Pradesh village. Kanimozhi, who led the march titled "Save our daughters", and others, including some DMK men, were detained when they attempted to breach police barricades and proceed towards the Raj Bhavan, police said.

The Tuticorin MP alleged the BJP government did not appear to be concerned over women's safety, in so much as it was keen on protecting the cows. A cruel rape has happened in Uttar Pradesh .. a girl was brutally raped and done to death. But, the UP government is trying to suppress the rape incident. Since BJP government has come to power, crimes against women have been on the rise, she charged.

Earlier, addressing the protesters, Stalin claimed justice had been denied to the victim and her family. Condemning the initial police action in preventing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from visiting the victim's family, the DMK chief said the former was "manhandled".

"In pushing down Rahul Gandhi, the Uttar Pradesh government has pushed down democracy," he alleged. After the address of Stalin and Kanimozhi, the DMK workers marched from near a Rajiv Gandhi statue, where they had assembled, towards the Raj Bhavan, a short distance away.

As the women members led by Kanimozhi approached the cordoned area, the police restrained them even as a few people pushed aside the barricades and tried to move ahead, following which all were detained and taken away in buses. Stalin and Kanimozhi slammed the police for stopping the march.

Despite the coronavirus scare, several hundreds of party members participated in the march. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)