With 3 gang rapes reported in the last 72 hours, Rajasthan has emerged as India’s newest ‘Rape Capital’ under Congress Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The Dalit woman was raped on camera in front of her husband but the incident was allegedly suppressed by the Alwar police owing to the general electons. Congress President Rahul Gandhi who has been questioning PM Modi on women’s safety has been conspicuously silent on the rapes committed in the state ruled by his own party.
– Agnima Sharma
3 gang rapes have come to light in last 72 hours in Congress ruled Rajasthan
Rajasthan, a state known for its beautiful tourist attractions is recently making headlines for all wrong reasons – increasing incidents of gang rapes in the state. The slogan of ‘Padharo Mhare Des’ seems to be losing its sheen with shameful incidents of gang rape, abduction, molestation being on the rise as the chief minister and his deputy are busy campaigning for Lok Sabha elections.
With two gang rapes reported in Alwar and reports of many similar cases across different parts of the state, Rajasthan, it seems, has become a rape capital in last few months. What raises the eyebrows are the reports confirming that police suppressed news of gang rapes cases in view of Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April 29 and May 6.
In the first case reported from Alwar, a woman going with her husband on a bike on April 26, was stopped, taken to a desolated place, thrashed and raped by five men who took turns and filmed the heinous crime on phone. Her video went viral on WhatsApp and other sites.
In second case again reported from Alwar, a woman was drugged, abducted and gang-raped allegedly by one Kailash Meena and his four accomplices. She was taken to different villages and cities, while being gang-raped and was finally let off at Ajmer where the woman met a few of her relatives and got her complaint lodged in a police station at Thanagaazi.
5 Accused have been held in the Alwar gang rape case after allegtions of the police suppressing the incident due to elections
In the first incident, the hapless couple was also threatened of dire consequences. So initially, they remained silent, however, the accused taking advantage of their silence, started extorting money from them.
The couple then went to the police station on April 30 but the SP made them sit there for four and half hours and then asked them to go to additional SP. On May 1, they were called for medical checkup. On May 2, they were again called for medical test and an FIR was filed on May 2. However, no action was taken by the police to arrest the criminals even when the victim informed police of the whereabouts of the criminals.
Emboldened by the inefficiency of the police, the criminals uploaded the video which went viral on May 4. The accused went to police station informing them of the video by the accused but only to listen that there are elections after two days and all actions can be taken only after May 6.
The trauma of women being abducted and raped under the Congress rule seems to have gone on forever. A few days back, a bride was abducted in Sikar during her vidaai ceremony. Close on the heels of this incident, another bride was abducted in Udaipur soon after the wedding during her vidaai ceremony also. The accused in both cases, stopped the cars of newly-wed, attacked the groom and abducted the bride. After much furore, all the accused in both the cases have been held.
Things did not stop here. A case of deaf and dumb female being raped in Banswara also came to the fore where she recently delivered a still born baby. After much furore, a rape case was registered. Another case was reported from Bagru where a class X student was abducted, raped and the act was filmed as well. The accused continued blackmailing the girl and the hapless father after being tormented and tortured went to police. DGP Kapil Garg said that accused will be dealt with an iron hand.
In Alwar gangrape case, five accused have been held while one is absconding till the filing of report. The Alwar SP Rajeev Pachar has been declared APO and the station in-charge Sardar Singh has been suspended. Similarly, in Banswara case too, the accused has been arrested and so is the case with Bagru. However, what surprises one and all in the entire matter was that none of the Congress ministers even visited Alwar to meet the victims and know the ground report. Even the woman activists have maintained silence in this case.
It was only when the BJP demanded resignation from chief minister Ashok Gehlot that he condemned the incident. State BJP president Madan Lal Saini said, “There is a deep political conspiracy in hiding the information of this incident till election. The Congress government has kept this issue hidden till elections to avoid political losses.” Even, Jyotikiran Shukla, a member of the committee formed by BJP to study the matter, questioned Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot if he can answer women of the state why he is still holding post of a home minister in the state.
It is quite surprising that when the entire state is fuming up, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot are busy campaigning for elections in Haryana and Delhi.
Ever since the new government has been formed, both the CM and his deputy are busy visiting Delhi, either for settling the CM issue (who from among them should be anointed), to appointing state ministers to distributing their portfolios. Once these issues were settled, they started touring constituencies to prepare for parliamentary elections. In fact, Chief Minister was all the more busy to see his son rise from Jodhpur hence came the problem of anarchy. “He left everything in hands of bureaucracy and this is the outcome,” said sources questioning the deteriorating law and order situation in Rajasthan. Keeping the SC/ST vote bank in view of the elections, all these cases were suppressed said the source, raising questions over the priorities of the ruling Congress in the state.
