The Congress on Tuesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the self-immolation bid by a woman from Hapur who was allegedly turned away by the police in Uttar Pradesh when she reportedly sought to file a complaint about having been gang raped.
“The shocking incident being reported today all over India that a woman from Uttar Pradesh set herself ablaze and is in critical condition in AIIMS with 80% burns in order to ensure that her voice reaches the BJP government, specifically Uttar Pradesh government,” Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said at a press conference.
“Will the Prime Minister visit the hospital and reply why her complaint was not registered by the police for the past 7 months? Will he reply to the girl or give answers, why under the BJP government” she was assaulted multiple times, asked Mr. Shergill. A widow is reported to have set herself on fire after she was sold for ₹10,000 and gang-raped but was turned away by the Hapur police.
“The Prime Minister and the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister are busy campaigning and not understanding a woman’s pain who became the victim of such a heinous crime,” Mr. Shergill asserted. “The Indian National Congress demands answers and accountability from the Prime Minister and from the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister on account of rising crimes against women,” he said.
The Congress spokesperson claimed that crimes against women were increasing in States being ruled by the BJP. He asserted that the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data showed that “after BJP came to power in 2014, crimes against women alone in Uttar Pradesh has increased by 34% and child rape cases have also increased in the country by 83%.”
“Under the BJP rule, women have to burn themselves to get justice, Not only in this case but the same happened in Unnao. The victim protested for six long months to get justice. She also threatened the government by saying that she will also burn herself if her plea is not heard,” he alleged.