Gehlot slams Rajasthan govt over 'rape victim' committing suicide in Bharatpur

Jaipur, Jan 20 (PTI) Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot slammed the state government on Monday over an alleged rape victim committing suicide in Bharatpur and claimed that crimes against women are rising under the BJP regime.

"A rape victim in Bharatpur committed suicide after police refused to listen to her grievances. The victim's family alleges that police did not arrest the accused and used to harass the victim, due to which she was forced to commit suicide," Gehlot said in a post in Hindi on X.

He said it is shameful that such an incident happened in the home district of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma.

The veteran Congress leader claimed that crimes against women are increasing in the state under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and that police are not listening to the complainants.

He said several videos have surfaced showing people complaining at the chief minister's public hearings about police not listening to them, but it seems that the security personnel do not care.

"Due to this, the victims are being forced to take such horrific steps," Gehlot said.

The young woman, who was allegedly raped in Bharatpur district, committed suicide on Sunday. The victim's family pelted stones at the accused's house on Monday.

In another post on the microblogging platform, Gehlot raised the issue of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal's indefinite hunger strike at the Punjab-Haryana border.

He said it took the BJP-led Centre more than 50 days since Dallewal sat on the hunger strike to propose talks with protesting farmers.

"This should have happened long ago. Even now, the Centre has given time for talks on February 14. The talks should have started immediately because till then his (Dallewal's) hunger strike will continue," he said. PTI AG RC