NEW DELHI: India's Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde sparked controversy in Parliament on Monday by saying that rapes are happening across the country and are not localized to Delhi. Her statement came after a five-year-old girl was raped in the capital. Making a statement in the Lok Sabha amid noisy protests over the minor's rape and other issues, Shinde apprised the MPs of the early breakthrough in the case, resulting in arrest of the two accused. While Manoj, the main accused, was arrested on Saturday from Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, another co-accused, Pradeep, was apprehended from Lakhisarai on Sunday night. Shinde said the SHO of the police station in Gandhinagar and the investigating officer (IO) have been placed under suspension, taking note of the lapses in investigation of the case. “The joint CP (vigilance) has been asked to conduct an inquiry. The joint CP (vigilance) shall also enquire into the allegation that the local police paid some money to the father of the victim to hush up the case,” he informed the MPs. However, in a comment seen as rather insensitive, Shinde's written statement sought to underline that “such incidents have been reported from other parts of the country also.” Angry protesters have taken to Delhi streets in the past few days demanding that the government and police do more to stem the flow of violence toward women and girls in the country. On Sunday, Scores of angry protesters stormed the barricades outside the residences of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to show their outrage. The protests that started early morning took on political overtones towards evening. Demonstrators held rallies, squatted on the streets, scuffled with policemen and shouted slogans at many places in the capital over the rising number of rapes and demanded more and better security for women. The crime has put the spotlight back on the treatment of women and girls in the country, which in recent months has sparked an international outcry. According to local reports, the girl was brutally raped and assaulted allegedly by her neighbor while being held captive and starved for two days. She also contracted an infection from foreign objects inserted in her body. Shocked and anguished at the sexual assault, President Pranab Mukherjee called for urgent introspection to identify causes behind repeated failure of society to ensure security of women and children. “I can't breath. This is shocking," mother of two young girls Amina told Bikyanews.com on Friday evening. “This country is going downhill for women and girls very fast. I am disgusted at this event and the lack of police response." It has also affected foreign tourism, especially women visitors to the country. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) says overall tourist arrivals are down 25 per cent year-on-year, with holidaymakers opting instead to visit other Asian countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. The fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old Indian student by six men on a bus in New Delhi in December sparked outrage at the country's treatment of women, and since then there have also been other widely reported attacks. A Swiss cyclist was gang-raped in Madhya Pradesh last month, while a South Korean tourist was allegedly drugged and raped in the same state in January by the son of the owner of a hotel where she was staying. Such incidents have “raised concerns about the safety of female travelers to the country," said DS Rawat, secretary general at ASSOCHAM, which surveyed 1,200 tour operators from different cities. Indian women have continued to express shock and outrage at the rising number of gang-rapes and assaults in the country, calling on the police and government to intervene. It means less tourists for a country that largely depends on tourism for its local industry and workforce. The government told Bikyanews.com that they plan on developing new strategies to curtail the rising violence against women, but nothing concrete has been revealed. And women are not coming to India as a result. BN
