Speak up, India is waiting: Rahul Gandhi asks Modi to break silence on Kathua-Unnao rape cases

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remaining silent on the Kathua and Unnao rape incidents.

Rahul said that Modi’s silence over the inhuman incidents of rapes was not acceptable to the country and it’s time for him to speak up on the issue which was of the national interest.

“Mr Prime Minister, your silence is unacceptable. 1. What do YOU think about the growing violence against women & children? 2. Why are accused rapists and murderers protected by the state? India is waiting. #SpeakUp,” Rahul tweeted.

Earlier on Thursday, the Gandhi scion led a candle march from Congress headquarters to India Gate in the heart of the national capital to demand justice for the Kathua and Unnao rape victims.

During the march, Rahul said, “This is about our women. Thousands are present here including the common people and people from all parties. This situation is such today that one after another incident of murder, rape and violence is taking place in various parts of the country. We are standing here against that and we want the government to act.”

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Attacking the prime minister over the increasing incidents of rapes and crime against women, Congress said that Modi used catchy slogans like "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” only to win elections.

“PM Modi likes to use catchy slogans like "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" to win elections. But, typically, he goes unusually silent when Betis are raped, brutalized, and murdered. Mr PM: how many more atrocities will it take for you to #SpeakUp?” Congress party tweeted.

On January 10, an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua was kidnapped and raped again and again before being brutally murdered by a group of men to hound her nomadic Muslim tribe community out of the Rassana area of Kathua.

According to the agency investigating the case, she was kept at Devsthan or a place of worship at Rasana village. She was drugged and gang-raped before being brutally murdered.

In Unnao, a 16-year-old teenager alleged that BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar along with his brother Atul Singh Sengar and other people gang-raped her at his residence on June 4, 2017.

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After filing of the case, the victim’s father was booked by the police under the Arms Act on April 3 this year and kept under police custody on April 5.

Frustrated with the alleged inaction and coercion from powerful people, the victim attempted self-immolation in front of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence on April 8 which made headlines.

The next day, her father died in jail with post-mortem report suggesting serious injuries on his body.