Hisar: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday met the dalit family whose two members, including a physically challenged girl, were burnt alive during caste violence here and assured them of stringent action against the guilty.
Rahul, who arrived unannounced to Mirchipur village, 450 kilometres from Chandigarh, consoled the family members of 70-year-old Tara Chand and his daughter Suman, 18, who were killed on April 21 when members of a particular community torched 18 houses belonging to dalits.
The Congress general secretary told the family that their demands and other issues would be placed before higher authorities.
He told them that "the guilty would not be spared and stringent action would be taken against them," a party leader said. Rahul also interacted with members of other dalit families in the village.
"Rahulji accompanied by senior leader Prithviraj Chauhan made an unscheduled visit. He interacted with the community members and others and took stock of the situation," Haryana Congress President Phool Chand Mullana told PTI.
"We were not aware about his visit. Probably he wanted a quiet interaction with those who had been affected," he said.
The state government and the district administration too were caught unaware. Hisar Superintendent of Police Subash Yadav said that he had no intimation about Rahul's visit to the village.
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had earlier visited the village. The issue was also raised in Parliament during the ongoing session.