Uma Bharti to stage first sit-in as BJP leader Saturday
Lucknow, June 17 (IANS) Days after rejoining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Uma Bharti will stage her first demonstration against the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur-Kheri district Saturday, a party official said.
Bharti, who returned to the party after around six years of estrangement, will lead the BJP’s sit-in to protest the “deteriorating law and order and crime against women in Uttar Pradesh".
“During the sit-in, we would primarily oppose the police atrocities on women and girls, particularly the brutal murder of the girl who was allegedly raped by the cops inside the Nighasan police station," BJP's state spokesperson Vijay Pathak told reporters Saturday.
“Uma will also visit the victim’s family and is likely to address a public meeting,’’ he added.
According to party officials, Bharti is expected to have a night stay in Lakhimpur-Kheri. She will Sunday visit the party office in Lucknow.
The body of a 14-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree June 10 inside the Nighasan police station premises in Lakhimpur-Kheri district.
The death was initially dismissed by police as a suicide, but a second autopsy confirmed the girl was strangled.
As many as 11 policemen at the police station and three doctors who conducted the first autopsy have been suspended.
At present, the crime branch of the crime investigation department is probing the murder case.
Ramchandra, a junior level employee at the Nighasan police station, has been arrested while sub-inspector B.K. Singh and two constables Uma Shankar and Shiv Shankar have been booked for tampering with evidence.