Hathras gangrape protests: UP cops push TMC’s Derek O’Brien to ground, manhandle women MPs

Lucknow, Oct 02: The TMC on Friday alleged that its leaders were stopped by the Uttar Pradesh Police from meeting the family members of the Hathras gangrape victim.

A 29-second clip tweeted by ANI showed a woman leader of the party being physically turned away by a person in plains clothes as O' Brien comes into the frame. He is seen being pulled away by the person and falling to the ground as a number of police personnel surround him. He is then seen helped get up as other leaders are also pushed away.

"He was pushed to the ground. Maybe he is injured too. He was attacked. How can they do it?" Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, another TMC leader who was a part of the delegation, was quoted by ANI as asking.

In a statement, the party said that the delegation of Trinamool Congress MPs was stopped by police around 1.5 kilometres from the victim's home.

"A delegation of Trinamool MPs have been stopped by UP Police from entering Hathras. The delegation had travelled about 200kms from Delhi. The Trinamool MPs were on their way to the village in Hathras, travelling separately, to express solidarity with the grieving family and convey their condolences," the statement said.

The delegation included Derek O'Brien, Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Pratima Mondal and Mamata Thakur (former MP).

One of the MPs who was stopped said, "We are peacefully proceeding to Hathras to meet the family and pay our condolences. We are travelling individually and maintaining all protocols. We are not armed. Why are we stopped? What kind of jungle raj is this that elected MPs are prevented from meeting a grieving family."

"At this moment, we are just 1.5 kms from the victims home in Hathras, explaining to police officials that we will walk the 1.5kms to the victims house in Hathras," the statement said quoting the MP.

The 19-year-old woman was allegedly raped at a village in Hathras by four men on September 14. After her condition deteriorated, she was referred to the Delhi''s Safdarjung hospital where she breathed her last on Tuesday.

She was cremated in the early hours of Wednesday, with her family alleging the local police forced them to conduct the last rites in the dead of the night.