'Every time...victim is Dalit, poor': Rahul Gandhi demands probe into Ghazipur rape-murder

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday demanded a high-level investigation into the alleged rape and murder of a girl of the Vishwakarma community in UP's Ghazipur and sought immediate justice.

In a post on X, he said in a country and state where parents have to beg even to get an FIR filed for their daughter, the country's government has no moral right to remain in power.

Gandhi also sought immediate action against guilty police officers and said the family of the deceased must get protection.

"In Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, the rape and brutal murder of a daughter from the Vishwakarma community—and then threats and violence to stop the family from filing an FIR.

"Hathras, Kathua, Unnao, and now Ghazipur—this is a pattern. The daughter from Manipur breathed her last while waiting for justice," he said in his post in Hindi on X.

He said every time, it is the same face and the victim is Dalit, backward, tribal or poor.

"Every time, the same truth—protection for the criminal, persecution for the victim. Every time, the same silence—from those in power who should have spoken.

"In a country and state where parents have to beg even to get an FIR filed for their daughter, that country's government has no moral right to remain in power," Gandhi said in his post.

"Action must be taken against the guilty police officers, the family must get protection — a high-level investigation must happen, and justice must be delivered immediately," the senior Congress leader said.

Posing questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, he asked, "Modi ji, Chief Minister ji, give a response — why are daughters so unsafe in your rule?"

"In such circumstances, justice isn't begged for — it is snatched. And we will snatch it," Gandhi said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also said that in Ghazipur, the reluctance to file a case in the murder of a girl, followed by threats to the victim's family and chaos spread by the powerful, shows that atrocities against women in the state have reached their peak.

"In BJP rule, this has now become the unspoken law: whenever any woman faces atrocity, the victim herself is further tormented," she said.

"The Prime Minister's grand statements about women are mere show. Be it Unnao, Hathras, Prayagraj, or Ghazipur — wherever women have faced injustice, the BJP has stood with the oppressor against the victim, using its full power. Women across the country are witnessing this reign of darkness," Vadra said in a post in Hindi on X.

A teenage girl's body was found in Karanda area of Ghazipur district on April 15, with her family alleging sexual assault and murder. While the police are investigating, relatives and locals have been vocal in demanding justice.