A man hurled ink at Delhi parliamentarian Sanjay Singh while he was addressing the media after meeting the family of an alleged gang-rape victim who is said to have been brutally assaulted by four upper caste men on 14 September.
The video of the incident has gone viral with over 45,000 views. It shows a man walking up to a group of media personnel surrounding the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and hurling ink at him.
The man, identified as Deepak Sharma, has been detained by police. He said the lawmaker's visit to Hathras was politically motivated, which made him throw ink at him.
Soon after being attacked, Singh tweeted that Uttar Pradesh State Chief Yogi Adityanath "is not a Thakur (Upper caste community) but a coward and that he (Singh) would continue to fight for justice for the little girl".
The four accused in the gang-rape of the Dalit (lower caste community) girl, also belong to the upper caste Thakur community.
The state chief, who has been under fire from opposition parties for his "inefficient and insensitive" handling of the case, has ordered a probe by India's top investigation agency Central Bureau of Investigation into the incident.
After being moved to Delhi's Safdarjung hospital for better treatment, the young woman died from her injuries on 29 September.
The deceased girl’s family has alleged that the state police cremated her without their consent.