Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slammed the Karnataka government on Friday regarding the incident in Belagavi, where a woman was allegedly assaulted and paraded naked. Sitharaman asserted that under the rule of the Congress party, there is a lack of 'nyay' (justice) for SCs and STs.
The incident occurred on December 11 in Vantamuri village, Belagavi district, following the elopement of the woman's son with a girl promised to another. According to Karnataka Police, eight people have been arrested, and eight more are being sought in connection with the case.
"In @INCIndia there is no 'nyay' for the SCs and STs. The recent incident in Belgavi, Karnataka falls in the same category as those repeated atrocities against the Dalits seen till recently in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. For Congress, the downtrodden are just a vote bank," Sitharaman said in a post on X.
Responding to the incident, the BJP established a five-member fact-finding panel to investigate the situation in Belagavi. The National Commission for Women (NCW) is also set to conduct its own probe into the alleged assault on the Dalit woman.
NCW chief Rekha Sharma, addressing the matter on Friday, stated that a commission team would meet with the woman to investigate the incident and evaluate her well-being.
BJP National President JP Nadda strongly condemned the heinous crime, expressing opposition to the stripping and parading of a tribal woman in Belagavi due to her son's elopement. Nadda formed a five-member fact-finding committee to visit the incident site and promptly submit its findings to the party's national president.
In a letter, BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh stated, "BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda has strongly condemned the heinous incident of parading naked of a tribal woman in Belgavi, Karnataka".