By IANS,
Lucknow : A court in Noida, on the edge of the national capital, Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to register criminal cases against 16 policemen for alleged excesses they committed on women and others during the farmers’ agitation in Bhatta-Parsaul villages.
The order came on complaints of seven women who also swore in affidavits that they were raped.
Earlier, the state police had refused to register any case of rape as the allegation was termed as an “afterthought” following the visit of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
“The fact that a court has now directed the state government to register criminal casess against so many policemen clearly reflects the truth in Rahul Gandhi’s statement,” said state Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
Violence erupted in Bhatta-Parsaul villages in Greater Noida in May this year after farmers protested alleged forceful acquisition of their lands by the state government.