Jyotiraditya Scindia attacks govt over its handling of Kathua, Unnao rape cases

Jyotiraditya Scindia raised the issue of rising cases of rape and women’s safety.

Cases of rape are on the rise and women in India consider themselves unsafe these days, Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Monday, attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over how its government handled the Kathua rape case and over the alleged involvement of BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar in a rape case in Unnao.

New Delhi: Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia speaks in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Monday, July 23, 2018. (PTI)

Scindia said in the Lower House that the BJP had come out in support of the accused in Kathua, and also raised the issue of the rape of a child in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district.

“The cases of rape against women are increasing in the country. When the Kathua rape case was highlighted the BJP MLAs... who were then ministers came out in support of the rape accused,” he said.

“Even in the Unnao rape case, the rapist was none other than a BJP MLA,” Scindia added.

Some BJP MPs protested against his remarks, but Scindia cited figures of the National Crime Records Bureau to say that 40,000 women were raped every year and 19,000 of them were minors.