Congress MP and former party president Rahul Gandhi has on Wednesday met the family of the nine-year-old rape victim in Delhi. The meet has hit national headlines amid growing protests over the incident, that shook the nation and while his meeting has become the talk of the town, the Central ruling BJP has demanded action against the Congress leader by claiming that Rahul Gandhi has revealed the identity of the victim's family. 

A nine-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped and killed in the city's Cantonment area on Sunday and it has been reported that the girl's body was forcibly cremated. On Sunday, the girl, from a poor family, had gone to the nearby crematorium to fetch drinking water from a cooler but she didn't come back home. According to reports, at around 6 pm on Sunday, the crematorium priest and the members working there had called the girl's mother and showed her the girl's body. They claimed that she had died of electrocution while fetching the water and there were burn marks on the wrist and elbow. 

The priest and his companions had then told the mother not to inform the police about the incident. It has been reported that the girl was forcibly cremated. However, the parents of the developed suspicion that the priest and his companions could have raped their nine-year-old daughter and cremated her. The parents had then informed the police and when the issue of rape allegations came to light, the capital was surfaced with outrage and resentments, which had triggered fresh trouble for the Delhi police and its commanding body, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. 

The residents of Old Nangal - the village where the girl and her family had lived have been staging protests since Sunday night urging the police to take action against the accused and the protests are being intensified with the participation of activists and opposition leaders. As the crime was alleged to be akin to the gangrape of a Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras in September last year where the woman's body was forcibly cremated under the moonlight, the opposition leaders have displayed to be exercising solidarity in the case of rape in Delhi and while asserting their fight for justice, the leaders have come down hard on the police amid spiking sexual violence in the country. 

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who controls the Delhi Police, and urged him to arrest all the accused who had raped and killed the minor girl. Dalit leader and Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad has already met the family and his organization has joined the protests. Aazad said, "This is my own family and she is my sister. From the Prime Minister to Home Minister, everyone lives here in Delhi, but still, there is no sense of safety for women." The reports say that Delhi Commissioner for Women has launched a probe and issued a summon to the police.

Following the protests, the Delhi Police have arrested four accused, including the priest, and filed charges under sections 302, 376, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code and the sections of the POCSO Act and against scheduled castes and tribes. Amid such development, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has met the family of the rape victim on Wednesday. According to ANI, Rahul Gandhi said, "I spoke with the family. They want justice and nothing else. They are saying justice is not being given to them and that they should be helped. We will do that and I said I am standing with you. Rahul Gandhi is standing with them until they get justice." 

By calling the rape victim the nation's daughter, Rahul Gandhi further said, "Her parents' tears are saying only one thing - their daughter, the daughter of this country, deserves justice. And I am with them on this path of justice." Apart from Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also met the girl's family on Wednesday and announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the girl's family. Kejriwal said after meeting them, "I met her parents. Her loss can't be compensated, but the Delhi government will provide Rs 10 lakh compensation and will order a magisterial inquiry. We will appoint top lawyers and culprits would get strict punishment." He also called the incident 'very shameful'.

According to a news agency, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Delhi has said that the autopsy report has gone inconclusive and the four arrested accused will be facing lie detector and drug tests. The Deputy Commissioner has said that the priest and other three men had called the girl's mother and showed her the girl's body. They claimed that the girl has died while fetching water from the cooler. The priest and other three men had convinced the woman that if she informs the police, they will take the body for autopsy and the doctors will steal all organs of the girl. They then had made the mother agree to cremate the body. 

Why BJP is demanding action against Rahul Gandhi?

During a press conference on Wednesday, BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra has alleged that Rahul Gandhi's tweet has revealed the identity of the victim's family and claimed that the Congress leader has defied the legal provisions. Patra said, "His (Rahul Gandhi) tweet violates section 23 of POCSO Act and section 74 of Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act that prohibits revealing the minor's identity. He revealed the identity of the family and is using the issue for his political agenda."

Patra has demanded action against Rahul Gandhi and said, "I appeal to the National Commission of Protection of Child Rights to take strict action under the POCSO Act and a notice must be issued to him. No is a VIP and he must answer to this." Patra has further accused Rahul Gandhi of selective empathy. By citing that BJP condemns the incidents of rape and action has to be taken in the rape of the minor in Delhi, Patra stated that Rahul Gandhi has out shown the lowest level of politics. Patra has cited several rape incidents in Congress-ruling states like Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra and asked him to divulge why he didn't go meet the families of the rape victims in these states. 

माता-पिता के आँसू सिर्फ़ एक बात कह रहे हैं-
उनकी बेटी, देश की बेटी न्याय की हक़दार है।

और इस न्याय के रास्ते पर मैं उनके साथ हूँ। pic.twitter.com/ewgzGkWrHd

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 4, 2021