Congress president Rahul Gandhi today said he will march to India Gate at midnight to protest against Kathua and Unnao rape cases.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi today said he will march to India Gate at midnight to protest against Kathua and Unnao rape cases.
Although he did not specify the issue, his announcement to take out a candlelight vigil at India Gate came hours after he lambasted the protests in favour of Kathua case accused who raped and murdered an 8-year old girl.
"Like millions of Indians my heart hurts tonight. India simply cannot continue to treat its women the way it does," the Congress chief said in a tweet.
"Join me in a silent, peaceful, candlelight vigil at India Gate at midnight tonight to protest this violence and demand justice," he said.
Besides the rape-murder case in Kathua, the politics is also being played over the Unnao rape case where a BJP MLA has been accused by a 17-year girl of rape.
Uttar Pradesh Police today registered an FIR against BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in connection with the alleged gangrape of a girl in Unnao, hours after the government said it would hand over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The lawmaker is, however, yet to be arrested.
Earlier today, the Congress attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "silence" on the Unnao and Kathua rape cases and asked whether he would observe a fast on the rising crimes against women under BJP rule in the country.
In a tweet, Rahul Gandhi described the rape and killing of an 8-year-old girl in Kathua as "unimaginable brutality" that cannot go unpunished and wondered how anybody can seek to protect the culprits.
He also lashed out at the politics being played over the crime.
"How can anyone protect the culprits of such evil," he asked, adding that the violence against the child was a crime against humanity."It cannot go unpunished," he said on Twitter.
"What have we become if we allow politics to interfere with such unimaginable brutality perpetrated on an innocent child," he tweeted.
The minor, who belonged to the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community, had disappeared from a spot near her house close to Rasana village in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir on January 10.
A week later, her body was found in the same area.
A Special Investigation Team formed to probe the incident has arrested eight people, including two Special Police Officers (SPOs) and a head constable, who was charged with destroying evidence.
Jammu has been on tenterhooks since the brutal rape and murder.
The city's bar association has opposed the action against the accused and alleged that minority Dogras were being targeted.
While the local bar association held a bandh, the Valley saw protests demanding justice for the victim.
(With PTI inputs)
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