The Congress on Sunday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi break his "silence" on the alleged rape and murder of the nine-year-old Dalit girl in Delhi and provide speedy justice to her family.
The opposition party also alleged that Twitter acted in haste due to "pressure" from the Indian government and was "selective" in removing Rahul Gandhi's tweet and "suspending" his account for putting up pictures of the victim's family as no action was taken against some other handles which carried the same pictures.
"To Twitter, I would say, 'daro mat' (don't be afraid)," Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said.
"This is a step taken in haste. We are highly enraged with what has happened. It is highly selective. Somebody who stands with the family seeking justice, you drop his tweet and block his Twitter account," she said.
Addressing a joint press conference, Shrinate and Ragini Nayak accused the government of not providing succour and support to the victim's family.
Delhi Congress leader Alka Lamba demanded that there should be a discussion on women's safety and security in Parliament during the Monsoon session and a day should be dedicated towards this cause.
Delhi Mahila Congress chief Amrita Dhawan demanded time-bound justice delivery and the death penalty to the culprits within six months.
She claimed that had Rahul Gandhi not raised the issue, the crime would have been "brushed under the carpet".
Questioning the prime minister and home minister's "silence", Shrinate said such a major crime has taken place in the national capital but not a word has come from the government.
"Why is the prime minister silent, why is the home minister silent. It is our demand that Modi ji should break his silence on the Delhi incident," she told reporters.
"It is unfortunate that the one who extends support to the family of the victim is being attacked. The BJP is indulging in 'rape versus rape' politics. This is not an issue of Congress versus BJP, it concerns the safety and security of women in the country," she said, asking whether the issue does not bother the 11 women ministers in the Modi government.
After Rahul Gandhi had met the victim's family, the BJP had questioned his silence on rape cases in Congress-ruled states.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala claimed that BJP members and NCSC members too had put up pictures of the victim's parents on Twitter.
"Wah Modi ji, when the National Commission for Scheduled Castes on August 2 puts up the pictures of their meeting with the parents of the victim on Twitter, it is right.
"When a former MP and NCSC Commission member puts up photos of the victim's parents on August 3, it is right. And if Rahul Gandhi ji seeks justice for their daughter, then it is a crime," Surjewala said in the tweet in Hindi.
Shrinate and Nayak alleged that the National Commission for Scheduled Castes chairman Vijay Sampla and member Anju Bala visited the victim's family on August 2 and they shared the pictures of the family on August 2 and 3, but no action was taken against them.
Nayak alleged that the Modi government "is using its force to suppress women" instead of providing them security.
"Why is it that when Rahul Gandhi raises the issue, the government uses its force to get his tweet deleted. Why do you fear Rahul Gandhi so much? If the Modi government feels we will be stopped from raising this issue by getting a tweet deleted, it is mistaken," Nayak said.
The Congress had on Saturday claimed that Twitter has "temporarily suspended" the account of its former chief Rahul Gandhi, but later said it has been "temporarily locked" after the microblogging platform denied having suspended the account and stated that it continues to be in service.
The action by Twitter came over a controversial post of Gandhi with a picture of him meeting the family of the Dalit girl who died here following an alleged sexual assault. Twitter has deemed that the account violated its rules against posting private information.
