In the wake of the Badlapur sexual assault incident, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi Wednesday said it "forces us to think where are we heading as a society". He also said all governments and parties need to brainstorm on what steps should be taken to provide a safe environment for women.
A massive protest broke out in the Badlapur town of Thane district on Tuesday after a large number of people blocked railway tracks and ransacked a school, where two kindergarten girls were sexually abused by an attendant last week.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "After West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the shameful crimes against daughters in Maharashtra also force us to think where are we heading as a society? After the crime against two innocents 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?" the former Congress chief said.
He said that more efforts are made to hide a crime than to provide justice, and the biggest victims of this are women and people of weaker sections.
"Not filing an FIR not only discourages the victims but also encourages the criminals. All governments, citizens and political parties will have to seriously brainstorm on what steps should be taken to provide a safe environment for women in the society," Gandhi said.
Justice is the right of every citizen and the citizen cannot be made dependent on the "will of the police and administration", the Congress leader said.
The protesters have demanded strict punishment against the accused, who was arrested on August 17.
The opposition parties have alleged that the parents of the girls were made to wait for 11 hours at Badlapur police station before the officials took note of their complaints.
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