Bihar political battle turns intense as Congress terms state ‘unsafe’ for women

The political battleground in poll-bound Bihar turned intense on Monday as Congress termed the state unsafe for women especially minor girls, as the party also alleged recent rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi delayed transfer of a 9-year-old rape victim to hospital.

"In Bihar, there is a double engine government. PM Modi recently went there for a poll rally. Due to this, there was delay in transfer of a 9-year-old rape victim to AIIMS hospital in Patna. She had already passed away before reaching the hospital," All India Mahila Congress chief Alka Lamba told reporters here.

She said that there is ‘kushashan kaal’ (misgovernance) prevalent in Bihar.

Lamba highlighted several rape cases in Bihar, including one of a 5-year-old in Muzaffarpur, another one of a 2.5-year-old in Champaran and the Sitamani gang rape case, among others.

Referring to statistics of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Lamba said that lakhs of girls in the country have suffered due to the government's indifference towards providing justice to the victims.

"As far as justice in such cases is concerned, only five hangings have taken place in the country since the Independence," she said.

She also added that there are 410 fast track courts for women crimes in Bihar where lakhs of cases are still pending. "It will take at least 28 years to give justice to all these," she said.

Referring to Rajasthan, which has highest number of rape cases as per NCRB records of 2022, she said that the situation is worse in states where BJP is in power.

"The system in this country has failed. The government has surrendered before criminals," she said.