Want answers, not PM’s silence: Rahul on Odisha student's death
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New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Odisha college student who set herself ablaze following alleged sexual harassment by a professor died, and said the daughters of the country are burning and dying while the PM is sitting silent.
Gandhi said the country does not want the PM's silence, it wants answers.
His remarks came after the Odisha college student, who set herself ablaze following alleged sexual harassment by a professor, died at AIIMS in Bhubaneswar.
The second-year integrated B.Ed student of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College, Balasore, died on Monday night after fighting for her life for three days.
She took the extreme step on Saturday over alleged inaction against the professor and suffered 95 per cent burns.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said the death of a daughter fighting for justice in Odisha was a "direct murder by the BJP system".
That brave student raised her voice against sexual exploitation -- but instead of justice, she was threatened, harassed and humiliated repeatedly, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
Those who were supposed to protect her kept oppressing her, Gandhi said.
"Like every time, the BJP system kept protecting the accused - and forced an innocent daughter to set herself on fire," he said.
"This is not suicide, it is an organised murder by the system," Gandhi alleged.
"Modi ji, be it Odisha or Manipur - the daughters of the country are burning, breaking down, dying. And you? Are sitting silent. The country does not want your silence, it wants answers," the former Congress president said.
Gandhi added that the daughters of India wanted security and justice.
