New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday broke his silence on the horrific Ujjain rape case and said that the strictest punishment will be given to the accused.
On Wednesday, a 12-year-old girl was found bleeding in a semi-naked state begging for help in the Barnagar Road area under the Mahakal Police Station limits in Ujjain.
Speaking to reporters, Chouhan said, "He (accused Bharat Soni) will be given the strictest punishment. We will leave no stone unturned in getting him punished. I was keeping track of the situation every hour. Such criminals are not fit to be a part of society."
"He has injured the soul of Madhya Pradesh. She is my daughter, daughter of Madhya Pradesh. We will care about her," he added.
Earlier in the day, an auto driver was arrested, while three others were detained in connection with the rape case. The arrested auto driver was identified as Bharat Soni.
The incident came to light when a video of the girl going door-to-door for help went viral. In the footage, the victim can seen approaching a man for help, who shoos her away. The girl is reportedly mentally challenged.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi called the incident 'soul shattering' and added that girls, women, tribals and Dalits are not safe in MP.
"The brutality meted out to a little girl in Ujjain, the city of Lord Mahakal, is soul-shattering. After the torture, she kept wandering from door to door for help for two-and-a-half hours and then fell unconscious on the road but could not get help." "Is this the state of law and order and women's safety in Madhya Pradesh? Girls, women, tribals and Dalits are not safe in the 20 years of BJP's misrule," she said in a post in Hindi on X, formerly Twitter.
Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi targeted the BJP, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be able to hear the screams of women only if they take some time off election campaigning.
Kharge said that PM Modi is trying to get applause by roaming to places and showing the dream of reservation to women but the truth is something else.