‘Unfortunate,’ says Haryana chief minister on reports of five sexual assault cases in five days
The Congress met the governor over the ‘lawlessness’ in the state and demanded that he either ask the government to resign or impose President’s Rule.
A delegation of Congress leaders on Wednesday met Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki to demand that the current government led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar be asked to resign or that he dismiss the Assembly and impose President’s Rule in the state.
They made the demand in the wake of multiple incidents of rape and sexual assaults reported in Haryana since the weekend.
“We met the governor because of the failure of law and order in the state,” former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda told reporters. “Multiple rape incidents make us hang our heads low in shame. The state government must resign on moral grounds. We have asked the governor to dismiss the government if they don’t resign, implement President’s Rule here.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Haryana chief minister had called the rapes and sexual assaults “unfortunate” and listed out a number of measures his government would take. Khattar gave his statements after days of the Congress protesting against the “lawlessness” in Haryana and the “lack of leadership”, the Hindustan Times reported.
The latest “unfortunate” incident in Haryana was reported from Hisar on Wednesday. A 14-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly raping a three-year-old girl in the district on Tuesday.
On January 13, four men in Faridabad allegedly abducted a 23-year-old woman while she was on her way home from work and raped her in a moving car. The previous day, the body of a 15-year-old girl was found near a canal in Jind district, and a medical examination revealed a gangrape.
On January 15, the Haryana Police arrested a 50-year-old man for allegedly mutilating the genitalia of a 10-year-old girl in Pinjore town in Pachkula district. The accused allegedly assaulted her brutally between the legs with a wooden stick. On Sunday, the police arrested two men for allegedly raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl in Panipat district.