Amethi killings: Dalit family’s head reaches Rae Bareli with bodies, speaks to Rahul

PTI, Oct 4, 2024, 6:54 PM IST

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday spoke on the phone to the man whose son, daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters were shot dead by unknown assailants in nearby Amethi.

Senior Congress leader and former Rae Bareli-Amethi MP Sonia Gandhi also extended her sympathies to the bereaved family through her son.

Congress’s state president Ajay Rai said in Lucknow he was also on his way to Rae Bareli to meet the bereaved family.

Ram Gopal, aged about 60, arrived in Sudamapuri village in the Unchahar area of Rae Bareli with the bodies of his family members, who were killed in their rented accommodation on Thursday evening.

Sunil Kumar, 35, a government school teacher, his 32-year-old wife Poonam, and the couple’s two daughters, Drishti and Suni, were shot dead in the Ahorwa Bhawani area of Amethi.

Amethi MP Kishori Lal Sharma, who came to Rae Bareli at Rahul Gandhi’s behest, arranged his phone call with Ram Gopal, which lasted about three minutes, according to visuals.

The brazen wipeout of the Dalit family has drawn widespread denunciation of the state government.

“The way my son has gone, they (killers) should go the same way,” Ram Gopal told reporters earlier in the day in Amethi.

Sharma said he had been in touch with Ram Gopal since yesterday.

“I have spoken to the DM of Amethi and asked him to probe the case from all angles. Let the police investigation get completed,” he said.

“The government keeps patting its back, claiming good law and order, but if that is the case, why are such incidents happening?” he asked.

Sharma, a first-time MP, said it was Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi who had asked him to go to his constituency.

“I spoke to Rahul ji and apprised him about the incident and the situation. He asked me to reach the village. The incident happened in my constituency and the victims were natives of Rahul ji’s parliamentary constituency. Both constituencies are associated with the Gandhi family. He directed me to come here and I am here,” Sharma told reporters.

Later, Sharma told PTI: “Sonia ji also expressed her sympathies for the family. She called to talk to the father over phone but he was not in a condition to speak to her at that time. The father spoke to Rahul ji, who gave Sonia ji’s message to him.” In the wake of the incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled the loss of lives, while the opposition launched a sharp attack against the BJP dispensation over the law and order in the state.

An initial police probe revealed that Poonam had lodged a police complaint against Chandan Verma in Rae Bareli on August 18 under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and for harassment.

“If anything happens to me or my family, Verma should be held responsible for it,” she had written in the complaint, Amethi Superintendent of Police Anoop Kumar Singh said Thursday.

It was yet to be determined if the two cases are related, he also said.