Hathras case: Congress workers block cavalcade of Smriti Irani in Varanasi

Lucknow: A group of Congress workers blocked the cavalcade of Union minister Smriti Irani in Varanasi in protest against the alleged gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh. The protesters raised raised anti-government slogans and demanded justice for the woman's family.

Congress spokesman Lalan Kumar said here that protesting party workers were later arrested.

The Union minister is in Varanasi to hold a dialogue with farmers and agriculture scientists.


The 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped at a village in Hathras by four men on September 14. After her condition deteriorated, she was referred to the Delhi's Safdarjung hospital where she breathed her last on Tuesday.

She was cremated in the early hours of Wednesday, with her family alleging the local police forced them to conduct the last rites in the dead of the night.

Local police officers, however, had said the cremation was carried out "as per the wishes of the family".