PNS|Hyderabad
BRS Working President KT Rama Rao launched a scathing attack on the Congress Government on Tuesday, asking Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to apologise for the police atrocities on tribal women in Lagadacharla which has been detailed in the National Human Rights Commission’s (NHRC) damning report.
KTR said that the NHRC’s findings were nothing short of a slap on Revanth Reddy’s face.
“The report confirms what we have been saying from day one, that is, Dalit and tribal women were subjected to horrific sexual harassment and violence by police officers. If Revanth has any shame, he should apologise and resign immediately,” he said.
At an interaction with the victims in Nandinagar in Hyderabad, where tribal women from Lagadacharla donated Rs 1 lakh towards the BRS silver jubilee event, KTR spoke emotionally about their pain. “Despite facing torture, they came forward to support our cause. I bow to them with folded hands,” he said.
Referring to the NHRC’s observations, KTR said the report established that the police behaved like Revanth’s private army. “Every form of physical abuse was inflicted on tribal families. Officers acted like beasts, without even a shred of compassion for the women’s dignity,” he said.
He reminded that one of the victims even told the NHRC that not just she, but even her mother-in-law was sexually assaulted, while another said she was beaten on her thighs.
KTR demanded that all police officials found responsible in the NHRC report be dismissed from service within six weeks, as ordered by the Commission. “If the government fails to act, we will take the case back to the Supreme Court,” he warned.
Criticising the muted response in the media to the NHRC report, he pointed out that officials had used third-degree torture, threatened magistrates, and even assaulted farmers uninvolved in the protest. “CCTV footage was deliberately disabled so that no evidence would surface. It is a textbook case of state repression,” he said.
The BRS leader also directed flak at the Chief Minister, calling him both the Home Minister and the MLA of Kodangal.
He accused the Revanth Government of ignoring a High Court stay and continuing land acquisition operations in Lagadacharla for a pharmaceutical firm allegedly linked to his family.
