Priyanka Gandhi Pays Visit to Women of 'Murdered' Family in UP's Prayagraj

Relatives of the family have alleged that a teenage girl, who is among the deceased, was raped before the murder.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arrived in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj on Friday, 26 November, and met the grieving family of Phoolchand Pasi, who was brutally murdered along with three other family members on Thursday.

(Photo: Twitter/@INCUttarPradesh)

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arrived in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj on Friday, 26 November, and met the grieving kin of Phoolchand Pasi, who was 'brutally murdered' along with three other family members on Thursday, 25 November.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Vadra stated,

"The family is in terror. All of them are women, the male member works in Jharkhand. They don't know what will they do alone, somebody can come and torment them. Police didn't help them."

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

Questioning the administration's silence over the matter, she added that the women in the family were mocked by the police when they went searching for help.

"Two Police personnel were removed from here yesterday," she said.

Speaking up for the many recent atrocities on the Dalit community she stated, "What happened to Arun Valmiki in Agra, what happened in Hathras and what is happening here? If Dalits are continually being tortured, what is the point of celebrating Constitution Day? Why isn't the administration doing anything?"

She went on to say that the family is clearly accusing eleven people for the crime.

"The [alleged] perpetrators troubled them in 2019, then in 2020, and even in September 2021. Why wasn't this family provided protection?"

What Had Happened?

Four members of a family, categorised as belonging to a Scheduled Caste, were found dead at their home in Prayagraj on the morning of 25 November.

Relatives of the family have alleged that a 17-year-old girl, who is among the deceased, was raped before the murder, NDTV reported. They have accused a neighbouring 'upper caste' family of the crime.

According to Pasi's relatives on Friday, their pleas had gone unheard and the local police provided protection to the feudal neighbours.

A First Information Report (FIR) on the charges of murder and gang rape has been registered against 11 persons by the Prayagraj police.

"Deceased Phoolchand (45), wife Meenu (40), daughter Sapna (17), and son Shiv (10) belonging to one family were found dead here. The deceased family had filed an SC/ST [Atrocities Act] case against some people of the village itself. This controversy escalated," Deputy Inspector General of Prayagraj Sarvashreshth Tripathi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Axes were found near the bodies of the deceased, police officer Tripathi indicated.

Samajwadi Party Delegation to Visit Kin of Slain

Meanwhile, on Friday, the Samajwadi Party posted on Twitter that a delegation of the party will pay a visit to Prayagraj to meet the victims of the 'massacre'.

The delegation will include Mithai Lal Bharti, Vasudev Yadav, Dharamraj Patel, Nagendra Patel, Yogesh Yadav, and District President (Prayagraj) Sandeep Patel.

(With inputs from ANI and NDTV.)