BJP questions Sonia on Guwahati molestation case handling

New Delhi, July 17 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party Tuesday demanded a "statement" from Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the way the Guwahati molestation case was handled by the Congress government in Assam.

"Chief of Congress party and UPA being a woman herself, the BJP demands that she come out clean ... Is this the kind of administration she wants. Is this the kind of insensitivity with which she wants the Congress governments to function," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The BJP's comments come a day after Congress leader Alka Lamba was removed from the fact-finding committee sent to the state by the National Commission for Women after she let out the name of the victim at a press meet. The Supreme Court has banned disclosure of a rape victim's identity.

"Those appointed in the commission, are these kind of people by whom justice has to be delivered. BJP takes all this very seriously in cognizance and demands an apology from the chief minister and statement of clarity from Sonia Gandhi if this is the way she wants her state governments to handle women-related matters," Sitharaman said.

The teenaged girl was assaulted when she came out of a bar in the heart of Guwahati July 9. A total of 12 people have so far been arrested in connection with the incident, while a search is on for prime accused Amarjyoti Kalita.

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