Aren’t Kathua and Unnao rape victims your daughters too? Supriya Sule asks PM Modi

Supriya Sule has demanded action against those who were trying to shield the culprits

In a scathing open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Unnao and Kathua gang-rape cases, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule has demanded action against those who were trying to shield the culprits.

Sule asked Modi, who gave a slogan of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, if the eight-year-old child, who was gang-raped and murdered in J&K’s Kathua, and 17-year-old girl from Unnao are not his daughters too.

Sule targeted the ruling parties in Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir for lack of political will in taking action against the accused. While Uttar Pradesh is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Peoples Democratic Party in alliance with the BJP is in power in Jammu and Kashmir. The alleged inept handling of chilling gang-rape cases has shocked the nation, leading to a public outcry and nationwide protests.

“The victims of both Kathua and Unnao were daughters of this country. When you raise a slogan to save daughters, the responsibility for safety of these daughters is on you as well. In a way, you have become a guardian of all daughter of the country. By this way, doesn’t the Kathua child become your daughter? Being a mother of a daughter, I am urging you to act against those who are trying to shield the perpetrators,” read the letter sent to Modi on Saturday. She has also termed the stand taken by some BJP members as a precursor to anarchy. “Lack of political will was clearly visible when it came to action... If you (Modi) keep quiet today, this tendency will be encouraged,” Sule wrote.

She added that she was expecting justice from a person like Modi who speaks for women empowerment.