According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures, Uttar Pradesh, on an average, accounts for 10% of all crimes against women throughout the country.
The statistics have come to acquire a grim reality in the state with a string of cases of rape, abduction and death of girls related to sexual molestation within a very short span of time.
With opposition leaders taking up cudgels on the issue, the Mayawati regime faces a major embarrassment.
The series which started with the gang rape of a minor, in Banda in December, allegedly by BSP MLA Purushottam Dwivedi, does not seem to be abating soon.
It was soon followed by the rape of Sonali (name changed) in Lakhna, Etawah, in December. Sonali’s husband committed suicide some days after the incident.
With obliging police officials at hand, it is the victims in both cases who were sent to jail on trumped-up charges. Things changed only after chief minister Mayawati stepped in. While the Banda MLA is now in jail, the one in Etawah is on his way. The Etawah chief judicial magistrate (CJM) on Thursday ordered a criminal case to be registered against him and seven other accused.
In a more recent incident, a minor girl was raped and murdered on the outskirts of the state capital. It is only after the media and opposition leaders created a hue and cry that the four accused were arrested on Thursday.
On Thursday itself, a five-year-old was burnt to death after being raped in Nagla Khargar area of Ferozabad district. In a similar incident, a teacher at the St Xavier’s School in Shahganj area of Jaunpur district in east UP, torched herself on Wednesday for being sexually exploited by the school.
Opposition is out to score their usual points. “It is shocking how unsafe our sisters and daughters are in a state ruled by a woman. This is shameful for ‘Behn’ Mayawati ji,” said UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
