State Women Congress president and former MlA Sarita Arya expressed anguish over the alleged assault of a Dalit woman by BJP MlA Rajkumar Thukral in Rudrapur. She demanded adequate punishment to the lawmaker on the matter.
Meanwhile, the Congress activists staged demonstration against the MlA in Ramnagar on Monday. later, they burnt the effigy of the MlA while shouting slogans against him and the state government. Another Congress leader Asha Bisht said that party is demanding arrest of the MlA without delay. “Besides, he must be expelled from the BJP. If an MlA can rough up a woman this way one can understand what is the plight of the women in the BJP-ruled state,” she added.
Sarita Arya further said that the incident exposes the real face of BJP by removing the mask. “On one hand, BJP is parroting ‘Beti Padhao and Beti Bachao’ while on the other hand, a BJP MlA is manhandling and abusing a woman. The state government’s stony silence on the issue is intriguing. Serving show cause notice is far from enough, given the fact that the assaulted woman is a Dalit,” she said.
It should be mentioned here that a case under IPC sections 323/504 and appropriate sections of SC/ST Act had been registered against BJP MlA from Rudrapur Rajkumar Thukral and two other BJP leaders at Rudrapur police station on Sunday after an FIR had been lodged against the MlA and others, alleging that the lawmaker had assaulted a woman belonging to the Scheduled Caste.
Sources said that efforts are on to facilitate a comprise between the parties involved in the case .