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PM should fast track rape cases if serious about justice for daughters: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi continued his relentless attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the simmering issue of rising number of rapes in the country.

PM should fast track rape cases if serious about justice for daughters: Rahul Gandhi

Photo: (Twitter/@INCIndia)

Rahul Gandhi continued his relentless attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the simmering issue of rising number of rapes in the country.

The Congress president, who on Monday began his three-day visit to Amethi and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh, posted a new tweet from his official Twitter handle taking aim at the NDA government in the Centre led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over constitution of fast track courts to dispense justice in rape cases.

“There were 19,675 rapes of minor children reported in 2016. This is shameful,” he wrote.

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“PM should fast track these cases and punish the guilty if he is serious about providing ‘justice for our daughters’,” added Gandhi.

The 47-year-old Congress chief was referring to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data according to which 19,675 cases of rape against children were registered in 2016. The NCRB report revealed that there was a rise of 82 per cent in the number of such cases compared to 2015 – the highest in Uttar Pradesh where figures went up by three times.

Gandhi has been attacking the Prime Minister following the outrage over the Kathua and Unnao rape incidents.

On 13 April, he had questioned the silence of the PM on the issues even as the incidents shook the conscience of the nation with people coming out to protest against the handling of the investigations.

“Mr Prime Minister, your silence is unacceptable. 1. What do YOU think about the growing violence against women & children? 2. Why are accused rapists and murderers protected by the state? India is waiting,” he wrote.

 

On that same day, PM Modi assured that the culprits in the cases will not be spared and that “daughters will get justice”.

“The guilty will not go unpunished and the Government of India will not leave any stone unturned to ensure that happens,” he said at the inauguration of the Ambedkar Memorial in New Delhi.

Read More: Our daughters will get justice: PM Modi on Kathua, Unnao rape cases

But following the PM’s assurance, Gandhi wrote on Twitter, “Dear Prime Minister, Thank you for breaking your long silence. You said ‘our daughters will get justice’. India wants to know: when?”

 

On 12 April midnight, Gandhi and his sister Priyanka led a candlelight protest at the India Gate demanding justice.

“Thousands of men and women stood up to be counted in the battle for justice and to protest the rising acts of violence against girls and women. I thank each and every one of you for your support. It shall not be in vain,” he wrote.

“Like millions of Indians my heart hurts tonight. India simply cannot continue to treat its women the way it does,” Gandhi added.

While an 8-year-old was allegedly gang-raped in Kathua, a BJP MLA has been accused of rape in Unnao. Police in Jammu-Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh have arrested all the accused in the two cases.

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