The BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government must “decide if it stands with criminals or with women”, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Friday, as she began her two-day tour of Lucknow.
She urged Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to set up a cell in his office to monitor cases of crime against women and ensure that FIRs were registered and the victim provided security within 24 hours of her complaint.
The woman, who was set on fire in Unnao, on her way to testify against two men accused of her rape was able to get the FIR on the rape registered only after four months and that too after the intervention of a court, Ms. Vadra said. “In the earlier Unnao case too, the government protected the accused till the very end, till the victim’s family was destroyed,” she said.
In the last 11 months, around 90 cases of rape were reported in Unnao alone, Ms. Vadra claimed. “The government has to take a decision if it stands with the criminals or the women,” she said.
Earlier in the day, Ms. Vadra held meetings with the strategy group of the Congress State unit here.
Congress leader Rajeev Shukla told reporters that Ms. Vadra discussed the preparation for the upcoming Desh Bachao rally of the party in New Delhi.
Mr. Shukla said Ms. Vadra deliberated on how to start a campaign to put pressure on the government to improve safety for women. Crimes like the recent rape and murder of a Hyderabad vet were taking place daily in U.P, Mr. Shukla said.
