The Congress on Tuesday criticised the Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government after a 20-year-old Dalit man was allegedly burnt alive last week for his relationship with a woman from another caste. The party said the social fabric of the state was being attacked by the Bharatiya Janata Party government to achieve its political objectives.

“Under the BJP rule, another Dalit has been burnt alive – inhuman and shameful,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala. “In order to achieve political objectives in Uttar Pradesh, the social fabric is being attacked. In UP, neither women are safe, nor Dalits and backward classes.”

The Congress leader said that the political dispensation was not speaking about the crimes.

The Dalit man, identified as Abhishek, was burnt to death reportedly on Saturday night in Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh. “Abhishek alias Monu was beaten up, kept hostage in a house and set ablaze,” Superintendent of Police Alok Priyadarshi was quoted as saying by PTI.

The police arrested the woman, her uncle and aunt on Monday, Hindustan Times reported. Two other neighbours have also been booked but they are yet to be arrested. Those arrested have been booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

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