Dalit woman's murder in Ayodhya: MP Awadhesh Prasad breaks down during presser

Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad broke down before reporters while speaking about the alleged murder of a 22-year-old Dalit woman whose body was found in a canal in Ayodhya on Saturday.

The family members have alleged rape and murder, claiming the woman's eyes were gouged out, her bones broken, and her body bore deep wounds and fractures.

Faizabad MP Prasad went to the victim's home to meet the grieving family.

Later, at a press conference, the SP leader broke down and said, "I failed to save her."

"Let me go to Delhi, to Lok Sabha. I will raise this matter before (PM) Modi. If we don't get justice, I will resign," Prasad said as his colleagues tried to console him.

The senior Samajwadi Party leader, invoking Ram and Sita, questioned how such a heinous crime could take place in Ayodhya, Lord Ram's birthplace.

"What will history say? How did this happen to the girl?" he asked, his voice trembling. His supporters assured him that he had been elected to "fight for justice".

The victim had been missing since Thursday night when she went out allegedly to attend Bhagwat Katha.

The young woman had gone missing on Thursday night, triggering a desperate search by her family. On Saturday morning, her brother-in-law discovered her body lying in a small canal, just 500 metres from their village, according to police.

Her hands and legs were tied with ropes, her body bore deep cuts, and one of her legs was fractured, according to family members.

According to news agency PTI, Ayodhya police has detained two persons from the deceased's village and are interrogating them.  

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lashed out at the BJP for the incident, demanding strict action against the culprits and police officers over alleged "inaction".

In a post on X, Rahul said, "If the administration had paid heed to the cry for help of the girl's family that had been echoing for three days, perhaps her life could have been saved."

"Another daughter's life has ended due to this heinous crime. For how long and how many families will have to cry and suffer like this? The anti-Bahujan BJP rule, especially in Uttar Pradesh, is resulting in rising the heinous atrocities, injustices and murders of Dalits," Gandhi said.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also posted on the incident. "The kind of barbarism that was done to a Dalit girl who had gone to listen to Bhagwat Katha in Ayodhya will send chills down the spine of any human being. Such cruel incidents shame the entire humanity..."

"In BJP's Jungle Raj, no one is there to listen to the cries of Dalits, tribals, backward and poor. The UP government has become synonymous with atrocities on Dalits.

"I demand that strict action be taken against the culprits who committed the atrocities as well as the responsible policemen and officers," Priyanka said.

(With inputs from PTI)