Kathua and Unnao rape case: Congress to hold candlelight march in all state capitals

Over the past few days, the nation witnessed a mounting uproar over the two gang-rapes of minors – one in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua and other in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao

NEW DELHI: On the instruction of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, party members will hold candlelight march in all state capitals protest over the Kathua and Unnao rape cases. Earlier on Thursday, in an attempt to pressure the Centre to take action in the gang-rape cases of the minors in Kathua and Unnao, Rahul led a midnight march to the India Gate in Delhi. 

Over the past few days, the nation witnessed a mounting uproar over the two gang-rapes of minors – one in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua where an eight-year-old girl child from nomadic Bakerwal community was brutally raped, tortured and murdered, and the other from Uttar Pradesh's Unnao where a BJP MLA, his brother and others have been allegedly accused of raping a minor and later trying to suppress the case details. 

“Mr Prime Minister, your silence is unacceptable. What do YOU think about the growing violence against women & children? 2. Why are accused rapists and murderers protected by the state? India is waiting,” Rahul wrote on Twitter. 

"Like millions of Indians, my heart hurts tonight," Gandhi wrote on Twitter after addressing an estimated 5,000 people at Thursday`s midnight vigil. "India simply cannot continue to treat its women the way it does."

“Thousands of men and women stood up to be counted in the battle for justice and to protest the rising acts of violence against girls and women. I thank each and every one of you for your support. It shall not be in vain,” he later added. 

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence over the rape and killing of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district of the state.

"Hon PM sir, there isn't a day when we don't hear you speak about things that are important to you yet there are times when you are completely silent about things that are important to others," he tweeted. 

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday urged to take suo motu cognisance of the conduct of lawyers who created ruckus and tried to obstruct the filing of a charge-sheet in the Kathua rape and murder case of an eight-year-old minor.

In the Unnao rape case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday registered three cases against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl.

With agency inputs