The Congress on Sunday stepped up attack on the Manohar Lal Khattar Government over the gang-rape of a 19-year-old woman in Mahendragarh district, alleging that during its regime Haryana had become a "crime hub".
Senior Congress leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda demanded that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar resign on moral grounds.
Hooda, who visited the victim’s family in Rewari on Sunday, said, "Law and order in the state has broken down completely. This is total failure of the government. The Chief Minister should quit on moral grounds.”
The two-time former Chief Minister, while talking to the mediapersons in Rewari said the victim's family told him that police had not promptly taken action, giving the key accused a chance to flee.
The 19 years old college student was gang-raped on September 12 after being kidnapped and sedated.
Demanding resignation of Chief Minister, senior Congress leader and communications in-charge of the party, Randeep Singh Surjewala said that the insensitive and arrogant Khattar Government has totally failed to control crimes against the daughters of Haryana and he has no right to continue even for a day as the CM.
Referring to Board topper's gang-rape case in Rewari, Surjewala said that it is shocking that despite the national concern and loud claims by the state police, all the culprits of the heinous crime are roaming free for four days.
“Haryana has become a crime hub under BJP Government as the official figures given in the recent state assembly session prove that crimes against women have increased by 47 percent since BJP Government came to power”, Surjewala added.
Revealing a figure from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Surjewala said: "In 2016, the Haryana Police filed chargesheets in only 56.2 percent of cases, which is the second lowest among all states and Union Territories in the country. Such unprofessional attitude and ineffectiveness of the state police encourages the culprits as the national average of filing chargesheets is much higher at 78.1 percent, he said.
As many as 1,413 cases of rape were registered in various police stations between 1 September 2017 and September 2018 as compared to 1,193 cases between September 2016 and August 2017. The number of rape cases during the same period in 2014-15 and 2015-16 were 961 and 1,026 respectively, he further said.
Slamming the government, Surjewala said, "The truth is that the State Government, which vows to save daughters has made the state to witness most number of rapes and gang rapes”.
As per NCRB figures for year 2016, Haryana reported 1,090 murders, 1,189 rapes, 191 gang rapes and 4,019 kidnapping and abduction incidents in year 2016, which is three murders, three rapes and 11 kidnappings and abductions on an average day. It is a matter of shame that Haryana has got the highest average of gang-rape cases in the country now, he added.
Lashing out at the government, Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar said that there is a jungle-raj in Haryana and ‘Beti Padhao-Beti Bachao’ campaign of the BJP Government has totally flopped.
“The crime against women has increased under BJP’s regime in Haryana,” he added.