While eight people have been arrested and a hunt is on for eight others in the case, the Karnataka HC has taken up the matter on its own.
Published Dec 15, 2023 | 4:24 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 15, 2023 | 4:25 PM
BY Vijayendra appointed new office-bearers.
Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra said on Friday, 15 December, that the unit would stage a statewide protest on Saturday against the incident where a Belagavi woman was assaulted and paraded naked.
“Tomorrow, we are staging a statewide agitation in all the districts and taluk headquarters where a large number of women will take part,” Vijayendra said.
On Friday, the party decided to stage a demonstration at Channamma Circle in the district headquarters town of Belagavi bordering Maharashtra, he added.
While eight people have been arrested and a hunt is on for the eight others accused in the case, the Karnataka High Court has taken up the matter on its own.
Addressing reporters in Belagavi, Vijayendra alleged that the state government had not taken the case seriously as eight of the accused were still at large. Also, the chief minister has not yet met the survivor in the hospital, he said.
“An incident like this happening in Belagavi, where the Legislature session is in progress. and the entire government is camping here, shows the scant regard for government and law enforcement agencies among criminals,” Vijayendra alleged.
He said the law-and-order situation had deteriorated so much that the high court observed that the incident was worse than what happened to Draupadi in Mahabharata, as Lord Krishna came to her rescue, but no one came to help the victim in the Belagavi incident.
BJP strongly condemns the heinous incident in Belgaum where a tribal woman was stripped and paraded naked in the village. Rising crimes against women in the state highlights the collapse of Law & Order, besides showcasing the incompetency of the Congress government in preventing… pic.twitter.com/zyWXvzVfCe
— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) December 15, 2023
Meanwhile, BJP national president JP Nadda also constituted a five-member fact-finding committee comprising the party’s women MPs to visit the village in Karnataka where the incident happened and submit a report to him
The five-member fact-finding committee comprises BJP MPs Aprajita Sarangi, Sunita Duggal, Locket Chatterjee, Ranjeeta Koli, and party national secretary Asha Lakra.
According to a statement from the BJP national general secretary Arun Singh, Nadda also condemned the incident and claimed that the attacks against women increased after the Congress came to power in the state.
The incident also exposed the “irresponsible behaviour” of the Congress governments “everywhere in the country” in tackling such crimes, read the statement.
Meanwhile, BJP MPs from Karnataka on Friday staged a protest in the Parliament complex against the incident.
“The law and order situation in Karnataka has fully collapsed. An SC lady, for no reason, was stripped naked and a procession was taken out, She was tied to an electric pole and beaten… Karnataka’s Congress government doesn’t give security to SC, ST ladies,” said BJP leader Sadananda Gowda.
The Karnataka High Court on Thursday termed the incident an “extraordinary case” and said, “It will have extraordinary treatment at our hands.”
A Division Bench also summoned the police commissioner of Belagavi along with the assistant commissioner of police (ACP) to be personally present in the court on 18 December to file an additional report.
The Advocate General (AG) on Thursday, placed a memo and some documents about the action taken on the incident before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit.
The court, however, said the report was falling short. The “least we can say is that we are not satisfied with the way things took place after the incident. The AG seeks some time to submit additional reports. Accordingly, learned AG is permitted to place on record an additional status report on Monday,” the Bench ordered.
The woman was also tied to a pole after her son eloped with a girl from the same community at Vantamuri village in Belagavi on 11 December.
Both elopers belong to the Nayak community. They apparently left their homes at half past midnight on 11 December.
An hour later, the woman’s relatives barged into the man’s house and found his mother alone. They allegedly assaulted the woman to elicit information about the couple’s whereabouts.
They then allegedly stripped her and then paraded her through the streets, before tying her to the pole.
Informed about the incident, the police arrived at the scene around 4 am, freed the woman, and clothed her.
She was then taken to a hospital where she was kept under observation. The police said she did not suffer any injuries.
(With PTI inputs)
