Outcry over brutal rape cases in India
CBI to probe charges against Modi party legislator; Kashmir chief minister vows justice in death of girl
India’s federal Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) yesterday took over an investigation into allegations that a state legislator from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party raped a teenager nine months ago, police said.
Opposition parties have already seized on the attack in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh in the north, which is ruled by a rising star of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The rape in the city of Unnao might never have seen the light of day, had the victim not tried to set fire to herself last week outside the residence of the chief minister in the state capital of Lucknow.
She was stopped by guards, but the suicide attempt brought to public attention her accusations against Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a longstanding member of the state legislature for the BJP.
The country has also been shocked by the filing of charges this week in the state of Jammu and Kashmir alleging the abduction and rape of an eight-year-old Muslim girl in a Hindu-dominated area in January.
Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti yesterday promised that there will be no obstruction of justice while the Congress targeted Modi on his “silence” over the issue.
“The law will not be obstructed by the irresponsible actions and statements of a group of people. Proper procedures are being followed, investigations are on fast track and justice will be delivered,” the chief minister said.
Her tweet followed protest by the Jammu Bar Association against the handling of the case by the Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch and demand for a CBI probe into it.
Eight people, including alleged mastermind Sanji Ram, have been charged with abduction, rape and murder of the ‘Bakerwal’ (nomadic) girl in Kathua’s Rasana village.
As the issue of the brutal rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua assumed communal proportions, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti yesterday promised that there will be no obstruction of justice while the Congress targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his “silence” over the issue.
“The law will not be obstructed by the irresponsible actions and statements of a group of people. Proper procedures are being followed, investigations are on fast track and justice will be delivered,” the chief minister said.
Her tweet followed protest by the Jammu Bar Association against the handling of the case by the Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch and its demand for a CBI probe.
Eight people, including alleged mastermind Sanji Ram, have been charged with abduction, rape and murder of the ‘Bakarwal’ (nomadic) girl in Kathua’s Rasana village in January.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi asked “how could anyone protect the culprits” and deplored letting politics interfere in such “unimaginable brutality”.
“How can anyone protect the culprits of such evil? What happened to Asifa at Kathua is a crime against humanity. It cannot go unpunished,” he tweeted.
“What have we become if we allow politics to interfere with such unimaginable brutality perpetrated on an innocent child,” he asked.
Call for fair probe
Congress leader Kapil Sibal attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his silence over the issue and said he should speak up over violence against women in states where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power.
“Prime Minister is silent over the incidents of rape in Unnao [in Uttar Pradesh]) and Kathua,” Sibal told the media.
Meanwhile, the Jammu Bar Association reiterated its demand for a CBI probe into the case. B.S. Slathia, President of the Bar Association, said that while it did not support the accused, it wanted a fair probe.