Ayodhya gang rape: dispute erupts over Akhilesh Yadav’s DNA test demand

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday sparked a row by demanding a DNA test of the accused in the Ayodhya gang-rape case.

On July 30, the Ayodhya police arrested Samajwadi police officer Moid Khan, who runs a bakery in Bhadarsa Nagar, along with his employee Raju Khan in the case of gang-raping a minor girl.

Giving details of the case, the police said the accused raped the 12-year-old for two months and also recorded the act. The case came into limelight when the minor got pregnant as a result of the sexual assault.

On Saturday, Akhilesh Yadav called for a DNA test of a rape accused. Addressing X, the Lok Sabha MP said, “In cases of misdemeanour, the path to justice should be found by conducting DNA tests of the accused and not by just making accusations and playing politics.”

“Whoever is guilty should face full punishment as per the law but if the allegations are found to be false after DNA test then the government officials involved should not be spared either. This is a demand for justice,” he added.

Yadav’s request for a DNA test has been met with widespread criticism from political parties in Uttar Pradesh, including the BJP, BSP and others.

The BJP slammed the SP chief, saying the party was defending “pedophilia” and had a “boys will be boys” attitude while leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc remained silent.

“So much concern about saving rapists just because Moeed Khan is a Muslim and the victim is a minor girl from Nishad community? Talking about PDA just for votes? This is the height of Muslim appeasement. SP has always exploited the backward community. But this time injustice will not be allowed. Punishment will be meted out,” BJP IT chief Amit Malviya wrote on the 10th.

Calling Akhilesh Yadav a “Congress pawn”, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said, “Akhilesh Yadav, in the case of the victim of a daughter from the Nishad community, first you forgot about the PDA (Pichde (Backward Classes), Dalit and Alpasankhyaks (Minorities)) for DNA and now you are misleading by talking about the court. You are worried about losing your vote bank, while the people of the state are expecting justice for the victim and punishment for the guilty. The government will discharge its duties.”

Taking a dig at Akhilesh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati asked how many accused have undergone DNA test. “The strict action taken by the Uttar Pradesh government against the accused in the Ayodhya gang-rape case is right, but what should we make of the Samajwadi Party’s statement that the accused should undergo DNA test? The Samajwadi Party should also explain how many DNA tests have been conducted against such accused persons during the tenure of its own government,” she said in X.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairman Priyank Kanoongo has slammed Akhilesh Yadav, quoting his father Mulayam Singh Yadav’s 2014 statement on rape, which said that “boys make mistakes”.

“A minor girl was raped; the accusations are against your party leader and you dogmatically defend him. This is the same DNA that defends rapists of girls by saying ‘boys make mistakes,'” Kanoongo said in a post on X.