The news a of 50-year-old woman allegedly being gang-raped and murdered by a temple priest in the Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh has sent shockwaves across India. Three men, temple priest Mahant Baba Satyanarayan, his aide Vedram and driver Jaspal, have been booked for gang-rape and murder. A local police station in-charge has been suspended for dereliction of duty after he was accused of attempting to protect the accused.
Reacting to the incident, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted, “In Hathras, the government machinery did not listen to the pleas of the victim and the government protected its officers and suppressed the voice. In Badaun, the SHO did not listen to the pleas of the victim, did not even bother to visit the place of the crime. There’s a fault in the intention of the UP government on the safety of women.”
हाथरस में
सरकारी अमले ने शुरुआत में फरियादी की नहीं सुनी, सरकार ने अफसरों को बचाया और आवाज को दबाया
बदायूं में
थानेदार ने फरियादी की नहीं सुनी, घटनास्थल का मुआयना तक नहीं किया।
महिला सुरक्षा पर यूपी सरकार की नियत में खोट है।https://t.co/3RKcDN0auV
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) January 6, 2021
While the National Commission for Women has decided to send a team to visit Badaun, netizens and rights activists have reacted with horror. Anti-rape activists Yogita Bhayana tweeted, “A 50-year-old ‘Sita’ has been gang-raped by a priest in UP of Ram Rajya. The incident is more horrific and despicable than what happened to Nirbhaya. This pandit let the woman suffer and die after inserting a rod in her private parts. The only fault of that ‘Sita’ was that she went to pray in the temple of ‘Ram.’
राम राज्य वाले यूपी मे 50 वर्षीय ‘ सीता ‘ के साथ मंदिर के पुजारी ने गैंगरेप किया है।
निर्भया रेप से भी ज्यादा और घिनौना कांड हुआ है। वो पंडित गुप्तांग में रोड डाल कर महिला को तड़प तड़प के मरने दिया।
उस ‘ सीता ‘ का कसूर बस इतना था कि वो ‘ राम ‘ के मंदिर उसकी पूजा करने जा रही थी pic.twitter.com/I5q2TyHARn
— Yogita Bhayana ਯੋਗਿਤਾ ਭਯਾਨਾ (@yogitabhayana) January 6, 2021
Journalist and filmmaker Vinod Kapri wrote, “A priest and his associates committed rape inside a temple. A rod was inserted inside the woman’s stomach inside the temple. Ribs of the victim were broken inside the temple. She was brutally murdered inside the temple. Rapist IT Cell has embarked on its mission to protect the priest since the incident took place inside a temple. The prime accused is a mahant.”
मंदिर में पुजारी और साथियों ने किया गैंगरेप
मंदिर में महिला के पेट तक सरिया डाली गई
मंदिर में पसलियाँ तोड़ दी गईं
मंदिर में नृशंस तरीक़े से हत्या कर दी गई
बलात्कारी IT cell इस बर्बरता और पुजारी को बचाने निकल पड़ा है क्योंकि घटना मंदिर में हुई है , मुख्य आरोपी महंत है
— Vinod Kapri (@vinodkapri) January 6, 2021
Meanwhile, the Badaun Police have merely issued a statement saying that the two accused had been arrested. The UP Police are now facing widespread condemnation for their inaction.