A political storm has erupted in Jharkhand following the murder of a 12-year-old girl, with the JMM and Congress targeting the BJP over alleged links to the crime.
Key Points
- Jharkhand's JMM party protested the murder of a 12-year-old girl, demanding justice and highlighting the heinous nature of the crime.
- The Congress party alleged a connection between one of the individuals arrested in the murder case and the BJP, sparking a political controversy.
- The BJP refuted the Congress's allegations, claiming the ruling alliance is attempting to defame the party and divert attention from the state's law and order issues.
- Police investigations revealed the girl was allegedly murdered as part of a sacrificial ritual involving her mother and an occult practitioner.
- The BJP has called for a judicial probe into the murder case and initially announced protests, later withdrawn, to demand justice for the victim.
Jharkhand's ruling JMM took out a rally in Ranchi and Hazaribag on Thursday over the murder of a 12-year-old girl, while the Congress alleged that one of those arrested in the case was linked to the BJP.
The BJP, however, denied the allegation, terming it an attempt to defame the party by the ruling alliance.
The Hazaribag Police on Wednesday night revealed that the girl's mother has been arrested for allegedly strangulating the 12-year-old as part of a sacrificial ritual in Kusumbha village, along with occult practitioner Shanti Devi and a man identified as Bhim Ram.
"When the truth was exposed by the police on Wednesday, it came to the fore that one of the BJP leaders was involved in the murder," JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey told reporters.
He said the BJP has been defaming the government with allegations that law and order in the state has collapsed. "They jumped the gun to mislead the police investigation, claiming the Hazaribag incident was a case of rape and murder," Pandey added.
The JMM's Ranchi district convener, Mustaq Alam, said, "We condemn this heinous murder. However, we take strong exception to the manner in which the BJP took to the streets, caused an uproar and attempted to communalise the issue by framing it as a Hindu-Muslim conflict.
Congress spokesperson Sonal Shanti, in a statement, said the BJP was silent "after a man linked to the opposition party was arrested".
Jharkhand BJP president Aditya Sahu alleged that efforts are being made to defame the party by the ruling alliance on the issue.
The person arrested was neither a booth president nor any office bearer or member of the BJP, he said at a press conference late in the evening.
"The BJP has been demanding that the perpetrators of the crime face the gallows. It was due to the BJP's pressure that led to the revelations in the case," Sahu said.
The BJP state chief claimed that more than 11,000 rape incidents have happened in the state since 2019. He warned the state government that BJP workers would take to the streets if any other rape incident happened in Jharkhand.
Sahu demanded a judicial probe into the case and announced withdrawal of the torchlight procession on April 3 and a Jharkhand Bandh on April 9.
The police claimed that the girl was strangled at the house of the occult practitioner Shanti Devi, allegedly by her own mother and Bhim Ram.
They had claimed that the mother of the victim often visited an occult practitioner in her village for the treatment of her youngest son, who suffers from some mental and physical sickness.
"The occult practitioner told the mother that they needed to sacrifice a virgin girl to cure the son of all ailments," a police official had said.
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