A photo of the laptop being distributed under a scheme championed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav

An 18-year-old in Uttar Pradesh was raped after she left a government function where free laptops were being distributed to students, a scheme championed by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.The teen and her friends showed up at the venue in Faizabad in eastern Uttar Pradesh at 2 pm. But the minister assigned to give away the computers, Awadesh Prasad, arrived only after 7 pm. It was 10 pm when the group of girls hired a jeep to return to their village in Amethi, an hour's drive away.Neither the government nor their colleges had organized transport for the students to reach or leave the venue.The teen was the last passenger in the jeep when the driver allegedly raped her and abandoned her on the road. He has been arrested.

Amethi is the high-profile constituency of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.In 2012, Mr Gandhi led the campaign for his party in the election in Uttar Pradesh, but it was the Samajwadi Party and its young leader, Akhilesh Yadav, who won the state. Mr Yadav and his supporters rode bicycles across the state, promising youth-friendly schemes like free computers and better education.