Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday called out the police inaction in the Badlapur sex assault case, saying “more efforts are made to hide crime than to provide justice”.
“After the crime against two innocent girls in Badlapur, the first step to give them justice was not taken until the public came out on the streets demanding justice. Will we now have to protest to even register an FIR? Why has it become so difficult for victims to even go to the police station?” Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet.
“More efforts are made to hide crime than to provide justice, the biggest victims of which are women and people of weaker sections.” he added.
The reaction by the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha came amid outrage over the sexual assault of two kindergarten girls in Badlapur in Maharashtra’s Thane district. The cops registered the FIR 12 hours after the family of one of the girls filed a complaint. The Opposition slammed the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra over the delay in police action.
Rahul Gandhi further said that not filing an FIR not only discourages the victims, but also encourages the criminals.
He also referred to the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a Kolkata hospital, as well as the incidents of “shameful crimes against daughters” in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
“After West Bengal, UP, Bihar, the shameful crimes against daughters in Maharashtra also force us to think where are we heading as a society?” Rahul Gandhi asked.
He said that all governments, citizens and political parties will have to brainstorm on what steps should be taken to provide a safe environment to women in society.
“Justice is the right of every citizen; he/she cannot be made dependent on the will of the police and administration,” Rahul Gandhi said.