Member of India’s opposition Congress party Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday paid a condolence visit to the family of the rape victim in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district. Gandhi prayed to give the family members courage.
Unnao, with a population of about 3.1 million, is located about 40 miles from the state capital Lucknow.
During her visit, Gandhi said it is everyone's collective failure as a society that the woman was not able to get justice or survive.
"At the social level, we all are guilty, but at the same time, this also points out to the hollow law and order mechanism in Uttar Pradesh", she said, adding that “the fear is such that it seems next to impossible for a woman to even step out of her house and walk a few yards".
Gandhi also questioned why the Unnao gang rape victim had not been given security. She was referring to another such attack in the district in July when a car in which a woman who had accused lawmaker Kuldeep Singh Sengar of rape, was hit by a truck.
Meanwhile, former state chief and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav observed a sit down protest on Saturday and described the death of the rape victim as a "Black Day" for the country.
“Before the country could get over the brutal rape-and-murder in Hyderabad, the rape victim in Unnao has also died. What is happening to the law and order of the nation", Yadav asked.
A woman who was allegedly gang-raped in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in March, was assaulted and stabbed while on her way to her court hearing, and set ablaze with kerosene oil, police said on Thursday.
After suffering horrific burns and being in critical condition for a day, she succumbed to her injuries and passed away on Friday night.
Women across the nation are staging protests demanding justice for the victims’ and their families.
Uttar Pradesh chief Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the death of the rape victim and said the case will be taken up by a fast-track court. As many as 86 cases of rape have been reported in Unnao since January.
