Expressing concern over the gang rape of a 19-year-old woman in Noida, the Congress on Tuesday asked the Narendra Modi government to strengthen the criminal justice system and take tangible action to reduce crime against women.

“Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inaugurating the new Metro line in Noida, a 19-year-old was gang-raped in a moving car when she was on her way to Noida from Gurgaon,” said Congress spokesperson Khushboo Sundar.

“Earlier, another 20-year-old girl was raped by five men in Delhi. Repeated incidents of violence against women and continuous rise in crimes in the NCR region is a matter of grave concern,” Sundar said.

The BJP, which politicised the Nirbhaya gang-rape case to the hilt and talked about providing security to women, was in charge of the capital now, yet Delhi continued to hold the tag of “rape capital of India”, she said.

“It is high time the government strengthens the Criminal Justice System and takes tangible action to reduce the crime against women,” the Congress leader said.

Pointing to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report 2016, the Congress said it exposed the hollow claims of women security under the present regime.

Total incidents of crime against women in India had increased in 2016, as compared to 2015, by almost 3 per cent and 3,38,954 incidences of crimes against women took place in 2016, as compared to 3,29,243, she said.

Referring to the NCRB data, the party also highlighted how crime against women had increased in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states.

Three BJP states — Madhya Pradesh (4,882), Uttar Pradesh (4,816) and Maharashtra — top in the number of rape cases (4,189), while two BJP-ruled states — Uttar Pradesh (12,994) and Maharashtra (6,170) — top in abduction of women.

Bihar is a distant third, according to the report.

Delhi reported 33 per cent (13,803 out of 41,761 cases) of total cases of crimes against women, followed by Mumbai (12.3 per cent or 5,128 cases) during 2016. Delhi also reported the highest crime rate (182.1) compared to the national average of 77.2.