Police baton charged women Congress workers who were protesting outside the residence of Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur here today, and demanded his resignation.
The protest came in lieu of increasing rape cases in Madhya Pradesh and also over Gaur's controversial statement that women should become sports people to defend themselves against crimes like rape, and that no women can be touched without her allowing anyone to do so.
The president of the All India Women Congress (AIWC), Shobha Oza said, "The BJP Government is baton charging women, we are protesting against atrocities on women, but the BJP Government is not even allowing us our right to protest. When the girls are raped daily and become victim to police atrocities, the politicians give irresponsible comments. Girls are not safe here."
Earlier Gaur had also supported Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, saying that the Samajwadi Party-led government in Uttar Pradesh could not be held responsible for the recent rape and murder of two Dalit girls in the state's Badaun District, saying "bechare" (poor) Akhilesh and Mulayam.
Another protester said that Gaur should resign from his post as he does not deserve the position.
Earlier, two cousins, aged 14 and 15, who were from a low-caste Dalit community, went missing from their village home in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun District when they went out into the fields to answer the call of nature on May 27.
The following morning, villagers found their bodies hanging from a mango tree in a nearby orchard.
More From This Section
Five men, two of them police officers, were arrested for the crime that underscored the enduring culture of sexual assault in India and the capacity for appalling violence between Hindu castes.
Moreover, a 16-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree in Rajupur Milak village in Moradabad District on June 12.