In response to Rahul Gandhi’s statement that “women are still being sexually harassed” during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar, Delhi police raided his home on Sunday. Authorities allegedly stated that they wanted information about the victims he had talked with in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to news sources, including those from the PTI news agency, Gandhi provided a 10-point response and requested eight to ten days to provide a comprehensive response. When he made these comments on January 30, nearly 45 days ago, while he was in Srinagar for the Bharat Jodo Yatra, he allegedly questioned Delhi Police’s apparent haste in requesting a response.
Gandhi was visited by a police team last Sunday that was led by Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Sagar Preet Hooda, according to sources. Hooda added that Gandhi had received a fresh notice.
“Today we’ve served a notice which has been accepted by his office and if questioning needs to be done then we will do it,” he said, according to Mint.
Delhi | Special CP (L&O) Sagar Preet Hooda arrives at the residence of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in connection with the notice that was served to him by police to seek information on the 'sexual harassment' victims that he mentioned in his speech during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. pic.twitter.com/WCAKxLdtZJ
— ANI (@ANI) March 19, 2023
Gandhi reportedly did not address the substance of the notice in the preliminary reply, instead focusing on how the Delhi police used an “unprecedented” approach.
Gandhi reportedly questioned whether this move had anything to do with his stance on the Adani issue both within and outside of the parliament.
The Congress party has referred to the police action as a ruse to divert attention away from its campaign against the Bharatiya Janata Party, which controls the Delhi police, on the Adani case.
Jairam Ramesh, Abhishek Singhvi, Pawan Khera, and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, along with other party officials, claimed the attempt to “intimidate” Rahul “smacks of political vendetta”.
#WATCH: "We've come here to talk to him. Rahul Gandhi gave statement in Srinagar on Jan 30 that during Yatra he met several women, they told him that they'd been raped…We're trying to get details from him so that justice can be given to victims": Special CP (L&O) SP Hooda | ANI pic.twitter.com/LbZySgs1RH
— NDTV (@ndtv) March 19, 2023
During the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi had said, “There were a lot of women I met during the Yatra who were crying. They were emotional. Have you seen them? I have noticed them. They said they have been raped. They have been molested. I asked one of them, ‘Sister, should I tell this police?’ They said don’t tell the police. Rahul Ji, we want you to know this. Don’t tell the police, we will face more harm. So, this is the truth of our country today.”
