2 weeks Ago
Days before the by-polls in Uttar Pradesh, Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad broke down during a press conference on Sunday, vowing to resign from the Lok Sabha if justice is not delivered to the family of a 22-year-old Dalit woman found raped and murdered near Ayodhya. Also Read: Dalit women are brewing their own social revolution A viral video from the press meet shows Prasad in tears, with others around him trying to console him. He was heard saying, “Let me go to Delhi.
I will raise this matter in the Lok Sabha before Prime Minister Modi. I will resign from Lok Sabha if we do not get justice. We are failing to save daughters.
How will history judge us? How did this happen to our daughter?” He also expressed his distress, asking, “Maryada Purushottam Ram, Mother Sita, where are you?” As Prasad repeatedly stated his intent to resign, others urged him to ensure justice for the victim. Watch the video here: Another user said, “Stop shedding these crocodile tears.” By-polls Ayodhya falls under the Faizabad parliamentary constituency.
The horrific crime took place just days before the bypoll in the Milkipur Assembly segment in Ayodhya, a seat vacated by Prasad after his election to the Lok Sabha. With Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav leading the BJP and SP campaigns respectively, the rape and murder is expected to become a major topic of discussion in the lead-up to the February 5 election. The Milkipur bypoll is scheduled for February 5, and votes will be counted on February 8.
The Congress, Samajwadi Party's INDIA bloc ally, has decided not to field any candidate from Milkipur and has instead announced support for the SP candidate. BJP suffered a setback in Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as the INDIA alliance won 43 seats with SP spearheading 37 seats, while the NDA alliance was kept on hold at 36 seats out of the 80 seats. Rape and murder of Dalit woman An unclothed body of a 22-year-old Dalit woman, who was missing, was found in a desolate canal near her village in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya, with her family alleging murder, police said on Saturday, as reported by PTI .
Also Read: The changing fabric of Dalit life As reported by PTI , the family members claimed that her eyes were missing and that the body bore deep wounds and fractures. Her limbs were tied with ropes, and her body had multiple deep cuts, they claimed. Villagers who draped and transported the body noticed a fractured leg, while her elder sister and two women collapsed upon witnessing the horrific condition of the body.
Also Read: Dalit women in India die younger than upper caste counterparts: Report Circle Officer Ashutosh Tiwari said that after receiving a complaint on Friday, police registered a missing report. Now that the body has been recovered, post-mortem report to will determine further action, he added. "Once we receive the post-mortem findings, we will proceed accordingly," he told PTI.
(With inputs from PTI).
