‘Not a day goes by in UP...’: Priyanka Gandhi after girl goes missing

india

Updated: Aug 28, 2019 18:50 IST

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has slammed the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh after a Bharatiya Janata Party leader Swami Chinmayanand was booked for allegedly kidnapping a woman law student.

The student of SS Law College in the state’s Shahjahanpur district has been missing from her college hostel since she posted the video levelling accusations against former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand on her Facebook page on August 23. Chinmayanand, the three-time member of Parliament, is the college’s chairperson.

The woman had accused Chinmayanand, without naming him, of harassment and “destroying the lives of several girls” in the video. She alleged that Chinmayanand was threatening to kill her and her family because she has evidence that could land him in trouble. She also sought the help of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adityanath in the now-viral video.

Priyanka Gandhi questioned the BJP government in a series of tweets over the safety of women in the state.

“Not a day goes by in Uttar Pradesh, when the BJP government manages to assure women that you are safe and you will get justice if something happens to you,” Priyanka Gandhi wrote in Hindi.

“The girl who raised her voice is missing. Nobody knows what is happening with her. How long will this last?” she asked.

The Congress leader even compared the current case to the Unnao gangrape case involving expelled BJP legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar.

“This looks like a repeat of the Unnao case in Uttar Pradesh. If a woman complains against a BJP leader, far from getting justice, she is not even guaranteed of her safety,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

“It was only last year that the BJP government withdrew a rape case against the accused. It is very clear who the government is supporting. The girls of UP are watching everything,” she wrote.

The woman’s father had lodged a complaint with the police, accusing Chinmayanand of putting his daughter through an ordeal. He said in his complaint that her mobile phone had been switched off since August 23.

“My daughter is missing for the last four days. When I spoke to Swami ji, he did not talk to me properly. I request the government to do justice. Her mother had gone to see her room on the college campus but that was locked,” he said.

Chinamayanand’s lawyer Om Singh had said his client has nothing to do with the missing girl. “He is also concerned about her going missing,” Singh said.