Dalit girl's continued imprisonment outrageous: Congress

Congress today lashed out at the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh terming as 'outrageous' the continued incarceration of a Dalit girl in a false case who was allegedly raped by BSP MLA Purshottam Dwivedi and demanded strictest punishment for the accused.

"It is absolutely outrageous that the victim is actually behind bars in a false case and that it took Uttar Pradesh government so long to even move to arrest the perpetrator," party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters at the AICC briefing.

Terming the rape incident "an outrage and utterly condemnable", Natarajan said, "The person who is guilty, after due proceedure of law, should immediately be punished in strictest possible terms."

When told that the BSP MLA has accused opposition parties of implicating him in a false case, Natarajan dismissively said, "I think it was the police there (which took action)."

The acccused BSP legislator has threatened to take revenge on opposition parties accusing them of implicating him in a false case.

The Congress spokesperson said that the issue of greater conern is that the "the establishment took so long to react in this case of a completely helpless young Dalit girl. I think the administration and establishment should do their job in the fastest possible manner."

Dwivedi, 48, who represents Naraini seat in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, was on the run after orders for his arrest were issued yesterday in connection with the alleged criminal assault on the 17-year-old girl belonging to the backward community.

The girl was allegedly raped on December 10-11, 2010, at the legislators's residence. She escaped from the MLA's house on December 12 when the MLA allegedly attempted rape for a third time and was arrested the same day on theft charges.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh unit of Congress said it would move the high court seeking the release of the girl.

"We will appeal in the high court to ensure the release of the girl", pradesh Congress committee president Rita Bahuguna Joshi said in a statement in Lucknow.

Joshi also demanded enhanced security for Congress' Banda MLA Vivek Singh who, she said, had highlighted the case due to which BSP MLA Purshottam Naresh Dwivedi was booked on the charge of raping her.