New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has spoken to the father and brother of the Dalit youth who was lynched in Raebareli, expressing his complete solidarity with the bereaved family in their time of immense grief, AICC media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said.
In a post on X, Khera described the incident as “heartbreaking and enraging.”
“For Rahul ji, who represents Raebareli in Parliament and considers its people his family, this tragedy is deeply painful. He has personally spoken to the victim’s father and brother and stands firmly with them in this hour of sorrow,” Khera wrote.
He added that Gandhi was deeply concerned about the “dangerous normalisation of lynching” in the country and insisted that “those responsible must face the full force of the law. Justice must be served.”
Gandhi is currently on a four-nation tour of South America.
Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed also condemned the incident, saying she had seen a “deeply disturbing” video from Raebareli showing a Dalit youth, identified as Hariom, being lynched by a group of criminals.
“When he repeatedly said ‘Rahul Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi,’ those criminals claimed they were supporters of Yogi. This is what the double engine of Yogi and Modi has done to Uttar Pradesh. Their politics of hate is claiming the lives of Dalits and the marginalised,” Mohamed posted on X.
“Muslims are under attack, women are unsafe, and Dalits and OBCs are being targeted — no one is safe under the BJP government,” she added.
Police in Raebareli have arrested five men for allegedly lynching Hariom, who they mistakenly believed was a drone thief.
According to police, Hariom, said to be mentally unstable, was on his way to his in-laws’ house in Dandepur Jamunapur when a mob accused him of being part of a gang that used drones to mark houses for theft. He was beaten with belts and sticks and died shortly after the assault.
