Cong Failed To Keep Women Safe: YSRCP

Demanding stringent action in the crime-against-women cases, YSR Congress has said that the Congress has shown no commitment in dealing with the issue in the recent past.

"Close on the heels of Delhi rape case, there have been a spate of crimes against women as the Congress at the state and the Centre has failed to send a strong message that the guilty will be severely dealt with," Party spokesperson Roja told reporters here on Wednesday.

The Congress-led UPA had come to terms in the Delhi rape case, only after an unprecedented movement picked up in Delhi and elsewhere, but crimes against women did not stop, with incidents being reported from Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Home Minister's constituency, and in the heart of the city. The figures say that there is one rape every 20 minutes in the country, she said.

Most of the cases are not reported as the laws are very harsh towards the victim in rape cases, and we demand that laws should be amended to punish the guilty and provide succor to the victim. The conviction rate in rape cases is very low as it is loaded in favour of the guilty, she said.

Condemning the remarks of PCC President Botsa Satyanarayana and Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on the rape incident, she said that the Women's Commission should be revived in the state so that it provides a plank for women to speak their mind.

The rhetoric of Congress President Sonia Gandhi will not console the victims, but she should act firmly in changing the laws to safeguard the interests of the women, the spokesperson asserted.

The Centre could pass the "FDI in retail" bill, but it did not show the same sincerity in Women's Reservation Bill, and it is still not showing any interest in amending the laws in cases of crime against women, she said.

The rape attempt in Home Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy's constituency and the incident in the city where a working woman was attacked by male colleagues are heinous in nature, and the state should take stringent action against the culprits, she said. (INN)