Within the past week, there have been two different rape incidents in Indore and Rewa that have shaken the state. Similarly, all these incidents have sparked outrage as debates on sexual crimes ripple across the country. These cases are reported on the heels of a doctor being brutally raped and murdered in Kolkata and the assault of two minors in Badlapur, Maharashtra.
The couple was having a picnic near the temple when the assaulters attacked them, tied the husband to a tree, and then gang-raped the wife in front of him. The miscreants filmed the act and threatened to release the video on social media if the couple approached the police. The incident took place on October 21, after which a case was registered by the police on the next day; several suspects had been arrested.
A daily wager has allegedly raped a neurodivergent woman in Indore. The victim was found bleeding and semi-naked, wandering in the Sadar Bazaar area in the early hours of Tuesday at 3:45 am. CCTV footage shows this. In no time, the police identified the accused, Sonu, who had taken her behind a waste treatment plant shortly before she was found. The accused confesses to the crime.
These incidents have evoked sharp criticism from the Congress party against the ruling BJP. Drawing parallels between the Chief Minister’s public engagements and the plight of the Indore victim, Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari invoked the disrobing of Draupadi from Mahabharata as he exclaimed: “When crimes are being committed even in front of police stations, how would women be safe?” He said the crime graph has never fallen in the state.
Junior Minister Narendra Shivaji Patel retorted that the accused in the Indore case had been arrested, assuring that the BJP was keen on such crimes being handled with sensitivity. These two incidents are an indictment of the urgent need for change in society with greater vigilance against violence against women.
