AAP leader Sanjay Singh accuses Yogi govt of caste bias

New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS) Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Saturday trained his guns on the Yogi Adityanath government for not talking to the family of the Prayagraj victims and charged it with caste bias.

On the Prayagraj incident, Singh, in an audio message, said: "Whatever happened in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj on November 24 is more gruesome than the Hathras incident. It is a matter of shame that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has not spoken to the bereaved family yet, which shows that the Uttar Pradesh government practices caste discrimination and supports it."

Four members of a Scheduled Caste family -- a man (50), his wife (45), their daughter (16) and speech impaired son (10) -- were found murdered at their home on November 25.

According to members of the extended family, the girl may have been raped before her death. They have accused a neighbouring "upper caste" family of the crime.

"This heinous crime took place at a time when BJP was celebrating Constitution Day across the nation. If the party had upheld the values of the Constitution seriously, then the last person from the most deprived section of the society would not have had to face such a difficult time," the AAP leader said.

"I met their extended family. Brother of the deceased serves in the Army. He is serving the nation. Even his wife said that she feels unsafe there. All this is possible because of police's recklessness and goondaraj in Yogi Adityanath's regime," Singh stated, adding, "The same family was being troubled by their neighbours since 2019. They filed an FIR but police did not help them."

"In 2020, again they went to the police for help but no action was taken against the perpetrators and on November 24, they were killed in such a gruesome manner. After a commotion, police have registered an FIR with charges including gang rape and murder against 11 named persons, eight of whom have been arrested so far," he said.

According to the police, a sharp weapon may have been used to attack the family as there were grievous injuries on their bodies.

The girl's body was found in a room inside the house, while the other three bodies were found together in the courtyard.

"Some people have been taken into custody for questioning," the Prayagraj police chief told the media.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met the victims' family members on Friday.