Two days after the brutal rape and public hanging of two minor dalit girls in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, the political heads in the country have woken up.
Maneka Gandhi, the Union cabinet minister for Women and Child Development, who took charge of the department earlier this week hit out against police laxity.
"Police laxity is equally responsible for the incident due to which two girls lost their lives. Police is still not acting in the right direction. All policemen involved in the incident should be terminated," Gandhi told PTI.
"If the girls' family members want a CBI probe, I will recommend it," she added.
Gandhi stated that she would soon constitute a "rape crisis cell" to ensure speedy action in such matters.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who is facing severe criticism for the increasing lawlessness in the state, termed the incident "unfortunate".
Calling for the immediate arrest of the accused, the CM stressed that a fast-track court will be constituted to ensure the the guilty are tried and punished soon.
Akhilesh, who sanctioned a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the girls, said such incidents should not be allowed to repeat at any cost, according to the report.
The girls, who were cousins, had left their houses together at 9pm on Tuesday and went to an open field as their home had no toilet. Next day at 4 am, the villagers, who were searching for the girls, found them hanging from a mango tree.
Of the seven accused in the case, three - including a policeman - have been arrested.
However, in Uttar Pradesh, this would only be one of the several cases. A year ago, the naked body of a 16-year-old girl, bearing multiple injury marks, was found in a well in a village of Civil Lines area in Etawah district, which is the home town of the CM. The girl's body bore several marks of brutality and sexual assault.
To top it all, Mulayam Singh Yadav, a former CM and the father of current CM Akhilesh, while speaking about rape cases recently, said: "Ladke, ladke hain. Galti ho jati hai (Boys are boys. They commit mistakes)".
