‘A rape is a rape, don’t politicise such issues’: Modi speaks on Kathua, Unnao cases in London

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again condemned the horrific rape cases in India.

London, April 19: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again condemned the horrific rape cases in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua and Uttar Pradesh's Unnao, that have shocked the entire nation and the world to a great extent. Addressing the Indian diaspora in London at a mega event titled "Bharat Ki Baat, Sabke Saath" on Wednesday, PM Modi said, "a rape is a rape" and should not be politicised.

"Crime against women is worrying. A rape is a rape. It should not be politicised," Modi said at the event. "But can we compare the number of rapes in different governments? We cannot say there were this many rapes in our government and that many of yours. There cannot be a worse way to deal with this issue," he added in a veiled attack to silence the critics, especially the Congress.

Recently, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Twitter highlighted the fact that there were as many as 19,675 cases of rapes of children in 2016. The Modi government has come under severe attack over rising number of sexual assaults in the country. The people of the country have been questioning the PM's "studied silence" over rape cases.

The BJP government has to also face the flak of the opposition parties and the public because a section of the saffron party has attempted to shield the accused in both Kathua and Unnao rape cases.

"Every time in our country... it is always the woman who is questioned. The person who is committing these crimes is also someone's son... The rape of a (daughter) is a matter of worry, a shame for the country," PM Modi said during the interaction at London's iconic Central Hall Westminster.

After being criticised for his "long silence", a few days ago, PM Modi spoke on the horrific Kathua and Unnao rape cases in the national capital. He said that guilty won't be spared, but it was "too little, too late" as even his women party colleagues like Meenakashi Lekhi and Smriti Irani pathetically engaged themselves in whataboutery.

In the last few days, the nation has been demanding justice for the 8-year-old girl from Kathua, who was kidnapped, drugged, gang-raped and killed by eight men in January to instill fear in people belonging to the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community, and 16-year-old teenager from Unnao, who was allegedly raped last year by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar. Recently, the 16-year-old's father died in the police custody after being brutally beaten by the MLA's brother.