The death of a 19-year-old Dalit girl from Hathras who succumbed to her injuries at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday after being allegedly gang-raped and brutally tortured by four upper caste men, has triggered a nationwide outrage.

The girl died early morning on Tuesday and was secretly cremated by the UP Police last night despite her parent’s protest.

Since her death, the Opposition has been attacking the Uttar Pradesh government in general and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in particular. The Congress has said the law and order situation in the state is akin to “gundaraj” and that the state has become India’s “crime capital”.

There is also a growing demand that the UP Police ensures prompt and speedy investigation in the case so that the guilty are brought to book.

Amid this, comments from BJP’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday took many by surprise when he reportedly appeared to hint at an encounter.

“The accused have been arrested. The case has been sent to a fast-track court. The accused will be sent to jail…Yogi ji jo wahan ke CM hain, main jaanta hun ki unke pradesh main kabhi bhi gaadi palat jati hai (Yogi Adityanath is the CM of UP. I know in his state a car can overturn anytime),” Kailash Vijayvargiya was quoted as saying by ANI.

#WATCH The accused have been arrested. The case has been sent to a fast-track court. The accused will be sent to jail… Yogi Ji jo wahan ke CM hain, main jaanta hun ki unke pradesh main kabhi bhi gaadi palat jati hai: BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on #Hathras gang-rape case pic.twitter.com/ksSERx3nu0

— ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2020

The comment on car overturning gains significance in the context in which Vikas Dubey, a notorious gangster wanted in the killings of eight cops, was recently gunned down in an encounter.

The UP Police has claimed that the car in which Vikas Dubey was being taken to Kanpur from Madhya Pradesh, met an accident and overturned. The police claimed that Dubey tried to attack them and flee, and that he was gunned down in retaliatory fire.

Many have raised questions and pointed out gaps in the UP Police’s claims about the sequence of events that led to Vikas Dubey’s death. The Supreme Court has asked the state government to submit a report.

However, this was not the first time in India that an arrested accused was killed in an encounter after the vehicle he was travelling in met with an accident.

Last year, a similar police encounter took place in Telangana where men accused of raping and burning alive a doctor, were gunned down by cops reportedly in “self-defence”.

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