Don't politicise Kathua rape and murder case: Smriti Irani

By Deepika

Updated: Thursday, April 19, 2018, 13:07 [IST]

Union minister Smriti Irani on Friday urged the opposition parties not to politicise the Kathua rape and murder case that has triggered communal tension in Jammu and Kashmir.

Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting Smriti Irani

"Law agencies and government are taking necessary action. As a woman, I believe and request there should be no victim shaming," ANI quoted Smriti Irani as saying.

The BJP government is drawing a lot of flak over rape of a minor in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir, and Unnao rape case, which allegedly involves BJP MLA, Kuldeep Senger.

On Thursday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi observed a candlelight vigil on the midnight intervening at the India Gate in New Delhi to register his protest against the growing incidents of crime against women. Rahul, who was joined by several senior Congress leaders, took to Twitter to invite people to join the vigil.

Gandhi earlier said the "unimaginable brutality" cannot go unpunished, and called the violence against the child a crime against humanity. He was referring to Kathua gangrape in which an 8-year-old girl was raped and killed.

The Kathua rape and murder was a gruesome act in which an 8 year lost her life. The Jammu police have filed its charge sheet in the case and details the most horrific crime one has seen in recent times. Following the charge sheet, protests had broken out in which some sought to defend the accused persons.

The Jammu police say that the primary intention of the murder was to frighten the Bakarwal community to which the girl belongs. The intention was to dislodge the nomadic tribe, the police said. Meanwhile, An FIR has been registered against rape accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Senger on Thursday at the Makhi police station in Unnao.

The case was registered under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (including Section 376 for rape) and POCSO Act. The four-time lawmaker and his brothers allegedly gang-raped the girl in Unnao - who later attempted suicide outside Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's residence in Lucknow on Sunday.