"Extremely unfortunate that Gandhi family keeping mum on Belagavi incident," BJP MP Aprajita Sarangi

Belagavi (Karnataka) [India], December 16 : Bharatiya Janata Party MP Aprajita Sarangi criticized the Congress-led Karnataka government regarding the Belagavi incident and said that the entire Gandhi family has remained silent on the matter.
Speaking to ANI, BJP MP and member of the fact-finding team Aprajita Sarangi said, "It's extremely unfortunate that the entire Gandhi family is keeping mum on this incident. Neither Sonia Gandhi nor Priyanka Gandhi, being women have said anything. As far as Rahul Gandhi is concerned he is a veteran as far as diverting topics are concerned."
Sarangi emphasized the severity of the incident involving the brutal assault and public humiliation of a woman. She criticized the Gandhis for their silence, stating that even in such a grave situation, the family has chosen not to speak out.
"We are talking of a victim woman who has been brutally assaulted and paraded naked. This is an extreme form of inhumanity. And even at this juncture, the entire, family of Gandhi chooses to keep mum," the BJP MP said.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday also attributed the "careless and casual approach" of the Congress government in Karnataka in dealing with law and order as a reason behind the Belagavi incident.
"I have already told that due to the careless and casual approach of the Congress government, this has happened and already NHRC has asked for the report. The government should take it seriously," Joshi told ANI.
After meeting the Belagavi incident victim's family, BJP MP and member of the fact-finding team Aprajita Sarangi said, "On 11th December a heinous crime occurred. A woman, 42 years old was dragged out of the house, she was stripped naked, she was paraded, she was dragged to an electric pole located on a hillock. She was brutally assaulted in the full glare of the neighbours. More than 15 people had gotten into her house when the woman was sleeping."
"We went to the hospital and we spoke to the woman. We also went to the village and we spoke to all the people who had assembled there. We spoke to the victim's husband. We spoke to the inspector in charge who had just been appointed there in the aftermath of the suspension of the then-inspector in charge. We collected lots of information and we are aghast," Sarangi added.
She further said that there are two types of actions- preventive and punitive actions. "Punitive actions always take place after the commencement of a crime. Now what is the punitive action that has been taken by the state government of Connecticut? 11 out of 13 people have been put behind bars."
"The announcement has been made that Rs 5 lakhs will be given as compensation to the family of the victim. The district legal services authority will give Rs 50,000 to the family, but these are all announcements. There was a tremendous sense of fear in the village we went to. Nobody was willing to come out into the open and talk to us. There is fear and there is a sense of apprehension," she stated.
"The only request that all these women and all the villagers made to us was, to please ensure that they do not come out of the prison. In case they come out the prison, the state government should assure us, should stand by us and should give us the assurance that we are not harmed hereafter. Why did it happen at all? That's the question," she stated.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah also gave his reaction on the same and said, "JP Nadda and BJP are doing politics over this issue. The atrocity did happen to that woman. Whatever legal actions have to be taken has been taken by the government. Our home minister met the victim. The accused were arrested immediately. Just open the National Crime Bureau once you come to know how many cases happened in their tenure. Do you know the one who was jailed yesterday (in UP) is a BJP MLA? What did he do? He raped a 9-year-old girl. We will take strict action against culprits and they will be punished."
Five-member BJP fact-finding team met with the victim's family on Saturday. The five-member BJP fact-finding team comprised Aparajita Sarangi, Sunita Duggal, Ranjeeta Koli, Locket Chatterjee and BJP national secretary Asha Lakra.

Member of the fact-finding team Asha Lakra said, "I'm an Adivasi woman so what happens with an Adivasi family, saddens my heart. On one side there is PM Modi who wants to encourage the Tribal community and on the other hand, there is the Congress government which doesn't want the development of the Adivasi community. BJP will keep fighting until justice is served."

Another member Ranjeeta Koli said, "No woman was ready to talk. Look at the government here that the women have a feeling of fear. They (the government) have given the compensation on paper but nobody knows what would happen on the ground level."

Sunita Duggal, another member of the team also shared her opinion on the incident and said, "The one who has done this crime has a background of Congress party, he is also affiliated with the Ministers here. This makes it clear why the police proceeding took time...They changed the sections in the FIR after PM Modi sent a delegation here. There is a terror in the environment"

Fact-finding team member Locket Chatterjee said, "Nobody here is willing to give a statement, everybody is scared. This means that women are scared here under the Congress Government. We want CM to come here and give a statement on this situation. We want the Congress party to pay some respect to women it's being done under the leadership of PM Modi. They have made the government with the votes of women so they should pay a little respect to women."
BJP national president JP Nadda had announced the setting up of a five-member committee to gather facts on the incident.
Earlier in the day, members of the BJP's Mahila Morcha and workers staged a protest on Saturday in Bengaluru over the stripping and parading of a woman in the Belagavi district.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the protest, BJP leader and former chief minister DV Sadanand Gowda said, "We are here today to protest against the prevailing law and order situation in Karnataka. This (Congress) government has failed abjectly to ensure the protection of citizens.
"The protest came in light of a horrific incident in which a 42-year-old woman in Vantamuri village of Belagavi district was allegedly assaulted, paraded naked, and tied to an electric pole after her son eloped with a girl from the same village.
The incident took place on December 11.