Khairlanji massacre a shameful incident: Sonia Gandhi

Mumbai, Dec 23 (UNI) Congress President Sonia Gandhi today said the massacre of four members of a dalit family in Khairlanji village in Bhandara district of Vidarbha was a ''shameful incident''.

''These murders make me hang my head in shame,'' she said while addressing a rally here today.

''It is the duty of civilised society to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future,'' Ms Gandhi said while expressing the hope that the CBI would expedite investigations into the matter and book the guilty at the earliest.

Before addressing the rally, the Congress President also visited Chaityabhoomi, the memorial of Dr B R Ambedkar, and offered her tributes. She also paid homage at the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Shivaji Park.

The Khairlanji murders in September this year had sparked off angry protests by the dalits. An incident of desecration of Dr Ambedkar's statue in Uttar Pradesh had even sparked off violent protests by dalits here in Mumbai.

UNI MR MAZ RR VV1919