A joint protest by AIPWA and other women’s organisations was held at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on 18 May against the recent incidents of rape and sexual assault in the national capital.
Addressing the protest, Comrade Shweta, National Secretary of AIPWA, said it is extremely shameful that three incidents of sexual violence have been reported in Delhi in the recent past, yet both the BJP-led Central Government and the BJP Government in Delhi have maintained a criminal silence. She said that the government which claims to make Delhi safe has failed to protect women and children even in schools, buses and public spaces.
Recently, on 1 May, the police arrested a private school staff member after a complaint was filed by the mother of a three-year-old child at Janakpuri police station. The complaint stated that the child was sexually assaulted inside the school premises on 30 April, just the second day after her admission to the school. In another shocking incident, reminiscent of the 2012 Nirbhaya case, a woman was gang-raped inside a stationary sleeper bus in Delhi’s Rani Bagh area on 11 May.
The protesting women’s organisations said these incidents expose the complete failure of the BJP governments to ensure safety and dignity for women and children in the national capital. They demanded that the BJP government answer why incidents of rape and sexual harassment are continuing in Delhi and why there is no accountability from those in power.
