'Being born a girl in MP is a curse', Cong slams Shivraj govt in Ujjain case

The Congress on Friday slammed the BJP over crimes against women in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, saying "being born as a girl is a curse in the state", and also accused it of trying to mislead people in the case of a 12-year-old girl who was sexually brutalised in Ujjain.

In a post in Hindi on X, Congress MP and general secretary in-charge for Madhya Pradesh Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "Under the BJP's rule in Madhya Pradesh, being born as a girl is a curse."

He said that a heinous crime was committed in Ujjain on a 12-year-old girl from Satna. The girl roamed the streets for help while "humanity kept on crying in Ujjain but the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government kept sleeping". 

Surjewala added, "Today, I visited the hospital in Indore where the girl has been admitted. Doctors informed me about the brutality with which she was treated, and it made me shiver.

"There is nothing resembling governance left in Madhya Pradesh. Shivraj Singh Chouhan has gone silent for the last three days. I Have a few questions for the BJP government over this gruesome crime against a 12-year-old Dalit girl to highlight the criminal conspiracy. Why did the police in Satna not register the FIR when her grandfather made the complaint to them? Why did Ujjain Police and the BJP government without verifying the facts declare the girl a beggar, despite the fact that she was in school uniform? 

"Why did the BJP government and Ujjain Police inform media that the girl is from Uttar Pradesh when she is from Satna in Madhya Pradesh? Was it done to mislead the people and hide the gruesome sexual violation? Will the BJP stoop so low on such issues? Why is the government not telling us how the girl reached Ujjain from Satna? Why did Ujjain Police not check the CCTNS system to get details of the missing girl? The horrific nature of the crime points to more than one person involved. Why is the government trying to cover up the case?" 

The Congress leader also asked why her family has not been brought from Satna to Indore to meet the girl. 

Surjewala further asked, "Why, despite such a heinous crime, have the chief minister and home minister Narrottam Mishra not gone to the hospital and asked about her health? Or meet the family members to stand in solidarity and wipe their tears? 

"Did the election rally come in the way of 'rajdharma' or has Shivraj ji lost his sense of duty? BJP's self-proclaimed "big leader" Kailash Vijayvargiya is just 1 km from the hospital. Didn't he get a chance to meet this daughter of ours, taking time out from election preparations? We in the Congress are committed to punishing these tyrants.

"Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath ji has announced an immediate relief of Rs 5 lakh to the girl's family and has promised treatment in the best hospitals in the country if required. Hope the humanity of the BJP, which has died, will wake up after today," Surjewala added.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in Delhi, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government's "jungle raj" has become a curse for women, Dalits, and tribal people. 

She said, "All of you saw the 12-year-old girl who was sexually violated in Ujjain. The incident is soul shattering. For any government. The girl walked 8 km just to cover her body. This showed the ineffectiveness of police in Ujjain. It has shown the ineffectiveness of the BJP government in the state." 

She added that Surjewala, many Congress MLAs and other leaders went to meet the girl and she is suffering immense pain in hospital. Her organs are being reconstructed. 

Targeting the government, she said, "Why such silence from the BJP government for four to five days? The girl is a Dalit from Satna. Earlier, it was said that she is mentally challenged and a beggar. She was in school uniform. In Satna, her parents were told that there would be no investigation. If the police would have taken their (initial missing) complaint seriously, this would have been avoided." 

She also alleged that an FIR was registered a day later. 

"Two days later, the news came, but Satna police did not think to verify to see if this was the same missing girl. Whether the girl was abducted or she came to Ujjain on her own, which is 700 km from Satna, this shows the inefficiency of the police," the Congress leader said 

She also said that if Ujjain police would have tracked the CCNTS system, then they would have known the details of the girl. 

"Despite immense pain, the girl said the name of her father, grandfather and her village, but Ujjain police declared her a mentally challenged beggar from Uttar Pradesh, while she was in school uniform," Shrinate said. 

She also targeted the government and BJP leaders for not visiting the girl.