Rajya Sabha on Friday witnessed sharp exchanges between the BJP and Congress over the Mumbai rape case after the Treasury Benches claimed that Madhya Pradesh topped the list in crimes against women.
The verbal duel ensued after the BJP said Delhi has earned the notoriety as the rape capital and Congress countered by saying Madhya Pradesh saw maximum number of rape cases. Both the parties then charged each other with politicising the incident.
Deputy chairman PJ Kurien appealed to the House to refrain from bringing in politics into the heinous crime and asked the Government to come back to the House with full details of the case.
Minister of State for Home Affairs RPN Singh assured the House of “harshest action” against the guilty and said the State Government was asked to give a detailed report and take immediate action in arresting the culprits.
Earlier, raising the issue during Zero Hour Smriti Zubin Irani (BJP) asked the Government to spell out steps taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents even after repeated assurances of improving law and order condition in the aftermath of Delhi gang-rape.
“It is for the people that I speak today. I speak with angst. This is not an incident that has to be viewed in isolation. Every time such an incident occurs, representatives of Government come out to give a sound byte to regret it but no action is taken. Till how long will we be quiet and mute spectator to rising crime against women,” she rued.
She also said barely four days back a female foreign visitor was attacked with blade in Mumbai while there was a case of acid attack in Bandra.
Citing details of the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), Irani said 2.84 cases of rape are happening every hour and only 33 per cent of complaints are converted into FIRs.
As soon as she said “unfortunately the nation’s Capital Delhi has become a rape capital,” verbal clash between the treasury benches and BJP ensued.
Vijaylaxmi Sadho (Congress) retorted saying Madhya Pradesh is number one as far as atrocities on women are concerned. The BJP objected resulting in a spat with Congress for about 10 minutes.
Satyavrat Chaturvedi (Congress) said, “The matter should not be made a subject of politics. You are concerned about Maharashtra but not Madhya Pradesh. Maximum incidents of rape are happening in Madhya Pradesh. The issue of rape should not be politicised though we agree with basic spirit of the issue you are raising.” It led to another bout of sharp exchanges.
Trying to cool down temperatures, Kurien said, “Please don’t bring in politics in such heinous crimes. This incident has happened in a particular State. If any member has a complain about any other State, member should give notice.” leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley also sought to know if the Minister had any information about the Mumbai case to share with members.