About 80 Congress workers were arrested at a public meeting ahead of the planned march in Shahjahanpur in support of the law student.(Photo: Reuters)

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged on Wednesday that rape accused were being protected in Uttar Pradesh and demanded lodging of a rape case against BJP leader and former Union minister Chinmayanand.

"Atrocities are being committed against women, especially in Uttar Pradesh. Rapists are being protected. It is our demand that in the Shahjahanpur incident, a rape case should be registered against the accused," the Congress general secretary in-charge of east UP said on the sidelines of a party march here to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Priyanka Gandhi had expressed displeasure on Monday over Congressmen being stopped from taking out a "nyay yatra" (march for justice) in support of the law student who has accused Chinmayanand of rape.

"The UP BJP government wants to suppress the voice seeking justice for the daughter of Shahjahanpur. The padayatra is being stopped. Our workers and leaders are being arrested. What is there to be afraid of?," she had said in a tweet in Hindi.

About 80 Congress workers were arrested on Monday at a public meeting ahead of the planned march in Shahjahanpur in support of the law student.

Former Union minister Jitin Prasada was stopped from leaving his Shahjahanpur residence for the march and placed under house arrest, while the borders of the district were blocked from all sides.