Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday expressed his concerns over the increasing violence against women, saying more efforts are being made to hide the crime than to provide justice.

Reacting to the alleged sexual abuse of two school girls in Maharashtra’s Badlapur, and similar cases of crime against women in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, Rahul questioned the direction in which the society is headed.

In a strongly worded statement shared on social media platform X, the Congress leader said: “After West Bengal, UP, Bihar, the shameful crimes against daughters in Maharashtra also force us to think where are we heading as a society?”

Referring to the Badlapur sexual abuse case, Gandhi condemned the delay in taking action until public protests erupted.

“The first step to give them justice was not taken until the public came out on the streets demanding justice,” he said, adding: “Will we now have to protest to even register an FIR? Why has it become so difficult for victims to even go to the police station?”

He said that there seems to be more effort invested in covering up crimes than in delivering justice, particularly affecting women and marginalized communities.

“More efforts are made to hide crime than to provide justice, the biggest victims of which are women and people of weaker sections,” he said, adding that not filing an FIR not only discourages victims but also emboldens criminals.

He urged all stakeholders, including governments, citizens, and political parties, to come together and take serious steps to create a safer environment for women.

“All governments, citizens and political parties will have to seriously brainstorm on what steps should be taken to provide a safe environment to women in the society,” he emphasized.

His remarks came a day after hundreds of people gathered at Badlapur railway station and disrupted train services in protest against the alleged sexual harassment of two 4-year-old girls inside their school washroom by a sweeper.

According to reports, the family members of the victims were made to wait for around 11 hours even for the registration of the FIR.

Following the protests, the Maharashtra government announced formation of an SIT to probe the incident and suspended three police officials.