Friday, Apr 26, 2024 | Last Update : 01:00 AM IST
Fast-track cases of minors’ rape, Rahul Gandhi tells PM Modi
Mr Gandhi pointed out that there were as many as 19,675 cases of rapes of minor children in 2016, terming them as “shameful”.
New Delhi: Amid national outrage over Kathua and Unnao rape cases, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fast track cases of rapes of minors and punish the guilty if he was serious about providing justice to the country’s daughters.
Mr Gandhi pointed out that there were as many as 19,675 cases of rapes of minor children in 2016, terming them as “shameful”.
“There were 19,675 rapes of minor children reported in 2016. This is shameful. PM should fast-track these cases and punish the guilty if he is serious about providing justice for our daughters,” Mr Gandhi said on Twitter, using the hashtag “SpeakUp”.
The BJP and the Opposition parties led by the Congress have been locked in a bitter battle over the rapes in Kathua and Unnao. Both the parties had levelled charges against each other for politicising the issue.
The Congress had accused the Prime Minister of being silent while the rapes have been taking place in the BJP-ruled states.
Expressing anguish over the two incidents which have triggered widespread outrage, the Prime Minister had said such crimes challenge the very concept of social justice “and as a society and a country we all are ashamed of it.”
“I want to assure the nation that no criminal will be spared. Justice will be done. Our daughters will get justice. We all will have to work together to end this internal evil,” he added.
The Congress had also questioned the silence of Union ministers Sushma Swaraj and Smriti Irani. The Congress said that when the UPA was in power Ms Swaraj and Ms Irani were the first to comment on rapes taking place “why the studied silence now”? The Congress, along with the entire Opposition, will also raise the issue women safety in the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
