‘Where are we heading as a society?’: Rahul Gandhi on Badlapur sexual assault case

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that the sexual assault of two kindergarten girls in a school in Maharashtra’s Badlapur has forced us to think “where are we heading as a society”.

Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, called on the governments, citizens and political parties to brainstorm on what steps should be taken to provide a safe environment for women.

"After West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the shameful crimes against daughters in Maharashtra also force us to think where are we heading as a society? After the crime against two innocents in Badlapur, the first step to give them justice was not taken until the public came out on the streets demanding justice,” Gandhi said in a post on X in Hindi.

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Gandhi further wondered whether we need to protest every time to get an FIR registered. “Why has it become so difficult for victims to even go to the police station?,” he asked.

Gandhi said the hesitance to file the FIR discourages the victims and encourages the culprits. More efforts are made to hide a crime than to provide justice, and the biggest victims of this are women and people of weaker sections, he added.

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The Badlapur town in Thane district has been witnessing massive protests after two kindergarten girls were allegedly sexually assaulted by an attendant in their school. The protesters blocked railway tracks and ransacked the school even as the accused has been arrested.

The protests come amid the nationwide outrage over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College Hospital. The CBI has been investigating the case and a civil volunteer with the Kolkata Police has already been arrested.