The Chief of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Party, Ajay Rai, announced that party members would gherao Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Varanasi constituency office on Tuesday, January 2, in protest of the BJP's local leaders' suspected involvement in the gang rape of a BHU student.
Three men were detained by police on Sunday, December 31, two months after a female student was allegedly sexually assaulted by a gang on the IIT-BHU (Indian Institute of Technology - Banaras Hindu University) campus. Opposition parties claimed the men were BJP officials.
On their Facebook profile, the three accused identified themselves as members of the BJP's IT cell, PTI reports.
Rai said, "Women and children are being raped in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. To tell the general public how incidents like rape are being carried out under their patronage, our Banaras district and city unit will gherao the prime minister's Varanasi office on Tuesday," today, Monday, January 1.
He alleged that Kunal Pandey, Convenor of the BJP's IT cell in Varanasi; Abhishek Chauhan, a member of the Working Committee; and Co-convenor Saksham Patel were sent to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections to avoid imprisonment.
"Had they been arrested before the elections, the message would have gone to the entire country that these three BJP officials are rapists," the Congess' Uttar Pradesh unit chief said.
Rai also took a dig at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, saying that he should announce when the accused’s houses will be bulldozed.
He alleged, "The BJP is a party of rapists. In this, there are rapist leaders like Kuldeep Sengar and Swami Chinmayanand. The BJP is working to save rapists."
When did the rape happen?
The gang rape occurred on the night of November 1.
Following the incident, hundreds of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) students protested on campus, demanding that outsiders be barred from entering.
The complainant from the victim stated that she had left her hostel with a friend on the night of November 1. They were near the Karman Baba temple when three men on motorcycles arrived and violently pulled her to a corner, gagged her, and separated her from her friend.
The accused then allegedly stripped the victim, videotaped her, and photographed her. They let her go after around 15 minutes and grabbed her phone number, according to the complainant.
Based on the complaint, an FIR was filed at Lanka police station under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force to a lady with intent to insult her modesty) and the provisions of the Information Technology Act.
According to police, the accusation of gang rape was added to the FIR after a few days.
Three people have been arrested in the case: Kunal Pandey, Anand alias Abhishek Chauhan, and Saksham Patel.
Opposition parties have criticised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's government over the state's law and order situation, alleging that individuals arrested in the case have ties to the ruling BJP.
In a post on X, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav stated those detained for violating the female student are part of a new crop of BJP workers flourishing under the tutelage of top party leaders.
In a statement, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) State Media Coordinator Abhinav Mishra asked that police submit a charge sheet in the case as soon as possible and take action against those who protected the culprits for two months.
