Congress toughens stand on dalit women row

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi may visit  two Dalit sisters from Kuttimakkul in Thalassery who had to spend a day in jail with an 18-month-old baby before bailed. He had expressed shock over the incident. On Saturday night, one of them, Anjana, 25, attempted suicide following a slandering campaign.

He spoke to Ms Anjana’s father and her younger sister, Akhila. KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran has lambasted against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as he feigned ignorance about it. Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala informed Mr Gandhi of Friday's incident that rocked the State. He enquired about the condition of Ms Anjana, who is recuperating at the Thalassery hospital after overdosing on pills.

Mr Sudheeran blamed the Chief Minister and the home department as well as the police.  He said the stand of Mr Vijayan that he was not aware of the incident seems to be strange, and it should be asked to the police.

“It is the CPM and their police who are responsible for the incident. If the CM is not aware of the incident, it shows the lapse on the part of the home department. Or else, the home department is hiding the truth,” said Mr Sudheeran. He said KPCC would provide adequate legal help to the sisters through a defence committee.

He said the police treated the sisters like they were militants. Mr Sudheeran also said that the magistrate’s conditions for bail, surrendering their passports and reporting to the police station every weekend sounds mysterious. He added that the one-and-a-half-year-old daughter of Anjana, who was also put behind bars under remand custody was despicable.