Belagavi stripping case: BJP announces state-wide protest; Central fact-finding team to meet victim
Belagavi: The shocking incident of a woman in Belagavi being paraded naked is taking a political turn with the state BJP announcing hold protests across Karnataka.
Also, BJP President J.P. Nadda has formed a five-member fact-finding committee and directed it to visit the village where the incident took place on Saturday and submit a report.
Addressing a press conference here, state BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra said, “A fact-finding committee will visit Belagavi on Saturday and submit a report on the incident. Party MPs Aparajit Sarangi, Sunita Duggal, Ranjita Kohli, Locket Chatterjee and BJP national secretary Asha Lakda will meet the victim. The BJP is taking the issue seriously.”
The incident took place on December 10 when the 42-year-old woman, a resident of Vantamuri village, was dragged outside her home and stripped naked. She was then paraded naked tied to an electric pole and assaulted, allegedly because her son had eloped with a girl from the village.
The terror was reportedly unleashed on the boy’s mother by the family members of the girl.
Nadda, meanwhile, said that ever since the Congress came to power in Karnataka, heinous crimes against women have been taking place in the state.
Describing the incident as an unfortunate development, Vijayendra said, “CM Siddaramaiah has not met the victim. Barring Home Minister G. Parameshwara, no Congress leader has bothered to visit there. Even the Karnataka High Court has rapped the state government for its ‘laxity’ in this issue.”
Despite this, the state government has not taken the development seriously, Vijayendra said.
“The BJP is going to stage protests across the state condemning the Congress government on Saturday, in which women are going to take part in large numbers,” he added.
After the incident, the Congress government announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for the victim, while the Belagavi District Legal Authority will give Rs 50,000 to her.
