Rahul Gandhi leads candlelight march over Unnao, Kathua rape cases

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday midnight led a candle light vigil to protest against the growing crimes against women amidst outrage over Unnao and the Kathua rape cases.

“Like every patriotic Indian, my heart hurts tonight with the growing incidents of violence against the girl child and women across our country,” tweeted Mr. Gandhi inviting citizens to join the march.

Congress leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, Ahmed Patel, Sushmita Dev, Divya Spandana, silently marched from the 24 Akbar Road Congress headquarters to India Gate, about a kilometre away.

Mr. Gandhi's sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, accompanied by her husband, also joined the protest at midnight.

Earlier, the party questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence over the Unnao rape case and accused the BJP-ruled States of topping in crimes against women.

The party questioned why the U.P. police had not arrested the Unnao rape accused, BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar. “We are making a direct allegation that the BJP MLA will never be arrested. The probe has now been handed over to the CBI and going by their record, he will abscond by the time they act. And in a few months, they [CBI] will file a report that he had no role,” said Mr. Kapil Sibal at a press conference.

Referring to National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) report for 2016, he said Madhya Pradesh had the highest number of rape cases followed by U.P. and Maharashtra.

Another former UPA Minister Ashwani Kumar said the Unnao case (in which the rape victim's father allegedly died after being by arrested by the U.P. police) has highlighted the need to have a strong anti-custodial law.

“The Unnao case is a defining moment in the life of our libertarian democracy. A day after the victim attempted self immolation, her father died because of 18 injuries on his body inflicted during his judicial custody,” said Mr. Kumar.