In one of the most brutal rape crimes reported in recent times following the ghastly Delhi gang rape, a 25-year-old woman was gangraped on the outskirts of Lucknow and was found with fatal injury marks on her private parts on Thursday. Her mutilated body was found with stab marks on her private parts, reports said.
This rape in Mohanlalganj area of UP comes just days after other brutal rapes were reported from across the state that is being termed as 'lawless'. On Friday, the case of two sisters who were kidnapped and raped for seven days in Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh also emerged.
However, politicians of the ruling Samajwadi Party still seem to have not learned their lessons on refraining from insensitive comments.
"Look at the total population of Uttar Pradesh, it has a 21 crore population, if there is a state with lowest such cases, it is UP. State government has taken action," CNN IBN quoted Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday.
SP leader and Rajya Sabha member Naresh Agarwal has also sparked off anger for his comments on the Mohanlalganj rape.
"I do not know why the media loves UP so much. We can also say such an incident has taken place in Bangalore, Rajasthan and New Delhi... law and order is very good in UP," he told news channels.
The fact that the rape occurred in a high-security zone with security beefed up for former United States President Bill Clinton's visit to Lucknow on 17 July has annoyed the Opposition and citizens.
However, this is not the first time that the party has attacked the media for focusing on crimes against women in Uttar Pradesh. Not long after the Badaun rape cases where two teenage girls were gangraped and hanged from a tree, Agarwal had made a similar comment.
"The media is selectively targeting the SP government in the state. Why does the media have so much interest in the state. The incidents in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat are not highlighted. It's a well-planned conspiracy sponsored by either Centre or BJP against the state government," he said.
Samajwadi Party chief had earlier drawn international ire for virtually supporting rapists, saying that "boys make mistakes". His son and current Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav also did not help matters when he said that the media was unduly focusing on crimes in Uttar Pradesh alone.
