Bhopal:

Two horrific incidents of rape have been reported from Madhya Pradesh – one from Indore and another from Rewa – even as outrage continues over the August rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital and the rape of two minors in Maharashtra’s Badlapur.

In the Rewa case, a couple at a picnic spot near a temple was attacked.

The husband was tied to a tree and his wife was gang-raped. Her rapists filmed the assault and threatened to release the video online if the couple filed a police complaint. This was on October 21.

The police filed a case the following day and some suspects have been arrested.

Indore Rape Case

Meanwhile, in Indore a neurodivergent woman was sexually assaulted by a daily wage worker.

CCTV footage showed the woman wandering, half-naked and bleeding, in the city’s Sadar Bazaar area around 3.45 am Tuesday. The cops, acting with more haste in this case, reviewed the footage and found she had been accosted, hours earlier, by the worker, now identified as Sonu.

The footage showed Sonu leading the woman to a waste treatment facility less than an hour before she was found. The police later said Sonu had confessed to the rape.

Congress Attacks BJP Over Double Rapes

After the Indore rape the state’s Congress chief, Jitu Patwari, hit out at the ruling BJP on X.

“The daughter is naked on the road (while) the Chief Minister is busy at an event,” he said, taking a swipe over the Ladli Behna Yojna, a women’s welfare initiative launched by Mr Yadav’s predecessor, Shivraj Chouhan, and which was credited with helping the BJP win last year’s Assembly election.

Mr Patwari also compared the condition in which the Indore woman was found to the disrobing of Draupadi in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, asking, “Can’t the Chief Minister who considers himself ‘God’ see the disrobing of Draupadi?” “I am angry and worried at the plight of our daughters. Crimes against our daughters are not stopping but the Chief Minister is sitting with his eyes closed.”

Responding for the state government, junior Minister Narendra Shivaji Patel pointed out that the accused – in the Indore case – had been arrested and emphasised the BJP’s commitment to handling such matters sensitively. “The law will teach the accused a lesson… they will not be spared.”

Mr Patel also said the BJP government prioritises the welfare of neurodivergent individuals, with the Social Justice and Welfare Department involved in supporting them. “Regardless of the city, the department is carrying out responsibilities diligently,” he claimed.

2023 Ujjain Rape Case

The Rewa and Indore sexual assault cases have brought the spotlight back on Madhya Pradesh after a horrifying incident from Ujjain in September last year. A minor girl was raped and left bleeding on the streets, and went from door to door asking for help, only to be turned away by heartless citizens.

READ | Man Arrested For Teen’s Rape Near Ujjain, Tried To Escape From Custody

For two hours, she was ignored by more than 500 homes and restaurants, as well as officials at a toll booth, till a temple priest spotted and rushed her to a hospital, and called the police.

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