A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed visit to Odisha to intensify electioneering, the Congress hit out at the NDA government saying that women-related crimes are on a steady rise in the country during the decade-long Modi-led government at the Centre.
Prime Minister Modi gave the clarion call of ‘Beti Bachao’ to empower women. However, the manner in which the government is shielding the perpetrators of heinous crimes like rape, it has lent substance to the belief that the much-hyped campaign launched amid much fanfare in 2015 has eroded into ‘Balatkari (rapist) bachao’ theme, alleged Dr Shama Mohamed, the spokesperson for the All India Congress Committee (AICC) while briefing newsmen here on Thursday.
Leveling charges that the ministers, leaders and close followers of the Modi-led government are involved in women-related crimes, she pointed out that “instead of initiating legal action, the government is shielding them. Even those booked for rape and murder have been allotted tickets to fight the polls. As a result, women across the country are feeling unsafe”.
Listing out instances of 2017 Unnao rape case in Uttar Pradesh, the alleged sexual harassment of a group of Olympians and international wrestlers by BJP MP Brij Bhusan, the gang rape and murder of women in ethnic violence-torn Manipur, the Congress leader said the government has done a precious little to mete out justice to the victims. Rather, it has ensured protection to the culprits in most of the cases.
Raking up the sexual escapades of Prajwal Revanna, incumbent MP and Lok Sabha NDA candidate in Karnataka, the AICC spokesperson targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that the Modi-led government has helped him flee the country.
The Centre resorted to convenient ploy of leaving it to the Congress-led government in Karnataka to deal with the case in which around 400 women are alleged to have been raped by the sitting MP, she stressed.