'Being born as girl in MP is curse', Cong slams Shivraj govt over Ujjain rape case

NEW DELHI: Congress on Friday slammed the BJP over crimes against women in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, saying "being born as a girl is a curse in the state", and also accused it of trying to get rid of the 12-year-old girl's rape case in Ujjain.

In a Hindi post on X, Congress general secretary incharge for Madhya Pradesh Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "Under BJP's rule in Madhya Pradesh being born as a girl is a curse."

He said that a heinous crime of rape took place with 12-year-old girl of Satna in Ujjain. The girl roamed for help while humanity kept on crying in Ujjain but the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government kept on sleeping.

Surjewala said, "Today I visited the MTH Hospital in Indore where the girl has been admitted. Doctors informed me about the brutality with the girl and it shivered me.

"There is nothing like the government left in Madhya Pradesh. Shivraj Singh Chouhan has gone silent for the last three days. Have a few questions for the BJP government over the gruesome crime like 'Nirbhaya' with a 12-year-old Dalit girl to highlight the criminal conspiracy. Why did the police in Satna not register the FIR when her grandfather made the complaint to them? Why did Ujjain Police and the BJP government without verifying the facts declare the girl as a beggar despite the fact that she was in school uniform.

"Why did the BJP government and Ujjain Police inform media that the girl is from Uttar Pradesh whereas she was from Satna in Madhya Pradesh? Was it done to mislead the people of the state and to hide the gruesome case of rape with a 12-year-old Dalit girl? Will BJP stoop so low on such issues? Why is the government not telling us how the girl reached Ujjain from Satna? Why did the Ujjain Police not check the CCTNS system to get the details of the missing girl? The kind of horrific crime has taken place with the girl points toward the gang rape. Why was the government trying to get rid of the case?"

The Congress leader also asked why the family has not been brought from Satna to Indore to meet the girl.

Surjewala further asked, "Why despite such a heinous crime the Chief Minister and the Home Minister Narrottam Mishra did not go to hospital and inquire about her health and also not meet the family members to stand in solidarity and wipe their tears.

"Did the election rally come in the way of Rajdharma or has Shivraj lost his sense of duty? BJP's self-proclaimed "big leader" Kailash Vijayvargiya is just 1 km from the hospital. Didn't he get a chance to meet his daughter after taking time out from the election celebrations? We, the Congress colleagues, are committed to punishing these tyrants.

"Madhya Pradesh Congress Party President Kamal Nath ji has announced an immediate relief of Rs 5 lakh to the daughter's family and has promised treatment in the best hospitals in the country if required. Hope the humanity of BJP, which has died, will wake up after today," Surjewala added.

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate while addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here said that under Shivraj Singh Chouhan government's jungle raj has become a curse for the women, Dalits, tribals.

She said, "All of you saw the 12-year-old girl who was raped in Ujjain.

"The incident is soul shattering. For any government, the girl walked for 8 km to cover her body. This showed the ineffectiveness of police in Ujjain. It has shown the ineffectiveness of the BJP government in the state," Shrinate said.

She said that Surjewala, many Congress MLAs and other leaders went to meet the girl and she is going through immense pain in hospital. Her organs are being reconstructed.

Targeting the government, she said, "Why for four to five days such silence by the BJP government? The girl is a Dalit from Satna. Earlier it was said that she is mentally challenged and a beggar. She was in her school uniform. In Satna her parents were told that we will not investigate. If the police would have taken the complaint seriously this would have been avoided."

She also alleged that an FIR was registered a day later.

"Two days later, the news came but Satna police did not think to verify the girl if she was the same missing girl. Whether the girl was abducted or she came to Ujjain on her own, which is 700 km away from Satna, this shows the inefficiency of the police," the Congress leader said

She also said that if Ujjain police would have tracked the CCNTS system, then they would have known the details of the girl.

"Despite immense pain, the girl had told the name of her father, grandfather and her village but the Ujjain police declared her from Uttar Pradesh, beggar and a mentally challenged while she was dressed in school uniform," Shrinate said.

She also targeted the government and the BJP leaders for not visiting the girl whereas they have immense money for their posters and campaigns.