Murthal gang-rapes: Congress demands President's Rule in Haryana

New Delhi: The Congress Party on Tuesday slammed the status report filed by the Haryana Government refuting the mass gang-rapes in Murthal during the Jat agitation, and demanded the imposition of President`s Rule in the state.

"I fully contradict the report of the DGP. There was no law and order. Three truck drivers have given statement that women were dragged into the field there. One victim has lodged an FIR that there was mass gang-rapes," Congress leader Pramod Tiwari told ANI.

Asserting that the Manohar Lal Khattar-led government has failed to maintain law and order in the state, he insisted that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should enquire the matter and severe action should be taken against the guilty.

"I think that the DGP and the Haryana Police cannot be believed. A severe action should be taken against the government which has failed to maintain the Constitution and President`s rule should be imposed and the CBI should enquire the matter," he said.

Submitting a status report on the alleged Murthal gang-rapes, the Haryana Government had yesterday told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that no incidents were reported from Haryana`s Sonipat district during the recent Jat agitation.

The preliminary status report was submitted following investigations into the matter by a three-member all-women special investigation team (SIT) constituted last week by the Haryana Government.

The SIT report said that no woman had come forward to lodge a complaint of gang-rapes in Murthal on February 22.

The court had taken suo moto cognizance of a report of mass gang-rape of women in Murthal near Sonepat on February 22, and had asked the government and the state police to submit a status report on the issue.Earlier, some locals, including truck drivers, had claimed they had seen women being dragged to the fields by the protesters.

TV channels showed footage of garments worn by women strewn in some places.