‘Dual injustice’ happening in Modi’s double-engine govts: Cong on crimes against women

PTI, Mar 7, 2024, 7:06 PM IST

The Congress on Thursday slammed the BJP over crimes against women and the alleged harassment of victims’ families in states ruled by it, claiming that seeking justice in ”double-engine governments was a crime”.

The opposition party’s attack came after a man allegedly killed himself, a week after his two daughters were found hanging from a tree in a field in Kanpur after they were allegedly gang-raped. The man’s body was found hanging from a tree on Wednesday.

A day before International Women’s Day, the Congress’ women’s wing announced that it would take out ‘Nari nyay padayatras’ from Friday in all districts of the country, demanding justice for families of victims of crimes against women.

”We appeal to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi that when you meet women as part of Women’s Day celebrations, meet victims who have been wronged and assure them that stringent punishment would be handed down to those who commit such crimes against women, especially minors,” Mahila Congress chief Alka Lamba said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters here.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also attacked the BJP over the incidents of crimes against women.

”Understand the ‘dual injustice’ happening in Narendra Modi’s double-engine governments from these two incidents! In UP, two sisters hanged themselves after they were raped. Now, after not getting justice and facing pressure to withdraw the case, their father also hanged himself,” he said in a post in Hindi on X.

”In Madhya Pradesh, a woman’s honour was robbed. Her poor husband pleaded for justice and hanged himself along with his two children when he did not get it,” the Congress leader said.

”Seeking justice in a double-engine government is a crime,” the former Congress president claimed.

Gandhi alleged that ”treating not just the victims, but even their families as enemies has become a tradition in BJP-ruled states.” He said the party is being aided in projecting a ”false image” which has been painstakingly created by ”friendly media.” The families of sexual attack victims in Hathras and Unnao, as well as Mandsaur and Pauri, keep asking for justice, he said. ”Raise your voice against this terrible injustice, else this fire will reach you too, if not today then tomorrow,” Gandhi said, using the hashtag ‘NaariNyay’.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slammed the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the issue of crimes against women, alleging that ”being a woman has become a crime in this jungle raj”.

She said two minors, who were victims of gang rape, committed suicide in Kanpur and now their father has also ended his life. ”It is alleged that pressure was being put on the victim’s family to compromise,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.

”In Uttar Pradesh, if victimised girls and women ask for justice, it has become a rule to destroy their families. From Unnao, Hathras to Kanpur, wherever women were tortured, their families were destroyed,” she alleged.

”Being a woman has become a crime in this jungle raj where no such thing as law and order is left,” Priyanka Gandhi said and asked what should crores of women of the state do and where should they go.

A week after two girls were found hanging from a tree in a field after they were allegedly gang-raped, the father of one of the victims was also found dead in Hamirpur, police said on Thursday. Hamirpur police are yet to register an FIR regarding the alleged suicide.

The deceased is the father of one of the girls who were found hanging in a village in Kanpur district on February 28. The victims and accused hailed from the same village in adjoining Hamirpur district, the police said.

In her remarks at the press conference at the Congress headquarters, Lamba alleged that daughters are unsafe and troubled all over the country.

”In the last 60 days, Mahila Congress colleagues visited 20 states. I challenge the country’s Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, Chairperson of the Women’s Commission and Chairperson of the BJP Mahila Morcha… to tell people which states they visited in the last two months, how many victims they met and how many they ensured justice for.

”These three are silent on crimes against women because those who commit crimes against daughters either have the protection of power or are partners in power,” Lamba said, adding that even after 10 years in power, not even 30 per cent of the ‘Nirbhaya fund’ has been spent.