Recently, two major cases of rape against women came to light in Uttar Pradesh. The first case is from Ghazipur district of Eastern UP. Kataria village comes in Karanda police station area of Ghazipur. Here in April last month, a minor of Vishwakarma caste was raped, whose body was later recovered in the Ganga river. The girl had gone missing on the night of 14 April. After the sensation spread, an investigation was carried out and the dead body was found in the river on the morning of 15th April.
Initially the case was suppressed but the family of the deceased accused her of rape followed by murder. The upper caste boys were accused. The two main accused in the case are Hariom Pandey and Abhishek Pandey. The police have arrested both of them. The police had initially initiated action in this case assuming it to be suicide but after pressure from the deceased’s family, a case of murder was registered.
What is the matter of Fatehpur?
The second case is from Fatehpur district. Let us first talk about the Ghazipur case. Actually, a 22 year old girl was going somewhere with her fiance in Khaga Kotwali area of Fatehpur. Then, due to the heat, they stopped in the forest to rest. At the same time, three miscreants reached there and beat up the fiancé and took him hostage. After binding the fiancé, all the criminals gang-raped the girl for hours. A video of the incident was also made and both were given death threats. Not only this, the scoundrels also got the fiancee to transfer money online.
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Initially the police was not registering the complaint. One of the three accused is a BJP leader and he is absconding. Police has declared a reward of Rs 1 lakh on him. Meanwhile, two accused have been arrested. The name of the main accused is Bablu Singh.
In both these incidents, the first victim is from Vishwakarma caste and the second victim is from Maurya caste. In such a situation, crimes against women in Uttar Pradesh are becoming increasingly ‘politicized’ and ‘casteized’. Both these incidents are being seen through the prism of 2027 elections. The opposition is raising the issue of women’s safety and oppression of lower castes in UP. At the same time, the government is taking steps forward in these matters. However, both the cases have become high profile, due to which the police is investigating the case with utmost promptness.
Politics in Ghazipur case
As soon as the news of the alleged rape and murder in Ghazipur district spread on social media, everyone’s eyes fell on the victim ‘Vishwakarma’ Yawati. In such a situation, Samajwadi Party sent its delegation to Kataria village on 22 April to talk to Nisha and her family and get them justice. When the SP delegation reached the village of the deceased on April 22, stones were pelted at the SP leaders and violence broke out in the village.
Many SP leaders and inspector-policemen were injured in this stone pelting. Because the case is related to the death of a girl from Vishwakarma community and the accused is from the upper caste community, then the case has become forward versus backward. Not only this, the matter of stone pelting incident became a big fight of power versus opposition in the politics of UP. Samajwadi Party is directly attacking the government on this matter.
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This issue was also raised by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and the government demanded justice for the victim. Rahul Gandhi said that the rape incident of the daughter of Vishwakarma community in Ghazipur has become a pattern. Manipur’s daughter died while waiting for justice. He said, ‘Every time the same face – the victim, Dalit, backward, tribal, poor. Same truth every time – protection of the criminal, torture of the victim. Every time the same silence – of those in power who should have spoken. After this statement of Rahul Gandhi, Congress has also decided to send its delegation to the victim’s house in Ghazipur.
Politics in Fatehpur case
In Fatehpur, the victim is from Fatehpur community and the main accused is from Rajput community. In such a situation, political statements regarding this have also intensified. For this reason, this matter also got linked to the issue of caste respect and social justice. The opposition is fiercely attacking the Yogi government regarding law and order. Opposition leader Swami Prasad Maurya has accused the Yogi government of being a hooligan and said that the government is suppressing the truth. He has warned that if the main accused is not arrested within 24 hours, he will protest.
Actually, in both these cases, both the victims are from OBC community. OBC community is a big vote bank in UP. The opposition parties are terming these incidents as injustice on backward people and Dalits and are taking it directly to the ‘pitch’ of castes. The opposition is calling it atrocities on backward castes. At the same time, the government believes that the ground for 2027 elections is being prepared through these sensitive issues and political parties are trying to earn their ‘political bread’.
Therefore, both these matters are no longer limited to crime only, but have become an issue of socio-political representation.
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