Gujarat Congress slams govt over crimes against women

Citing declining sex ratio, large number of rape cases, and sex scandals involving BJP leaders, leader of opposition in the state assembly Paresh Dhanani alleged Tuesday that women are not safe in the state under the BJP government.

Talking with reporters, Dhanani said that while sex ratio had gone up in the country, it had declined in Gujarat, which showed the failure of the state government.

"The Women Protection Committee, which is chaired by the chief minister, has not met even once in the last three years. This shows the government's commitment to safety of women," the Congress leader alleged.

Quoting official figures, Dhanani said that 1,887 rape cases, i.e. five every two days, were reported in the state in the last two years. He said that a large number of cases of missing women and other crimes raised serious question marks on the importance the government attaches to safety of the fairer sex.

He also cornered the BJP government over the recent rape allegations against former MLA Jayanti Bhanushali, and the Naliya sex scandal in which a number of party leaders were allegedly involved.

Dhanani also posed a series of questions to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. He sought to know why conviction rate in crimes against women was only 3% in the state. He also asked why Gujarat ranked among the states with highest number of crimes against women, and performed poorly in various human development indices involving women.