Zee Media Group
New Delhi: With the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl in Delhi sparking nationwide outrage, political personalities cutting across party lines on Saturday expressed grief and demanded strong action against the culprit.
The girl was abducted and kept hostage for two days without food and water in a room in which the attacker lived, on the ground floor of the building in east Delhi`s Gandhi Nagar, in which the victim`s family also stayed.
The girl, who was raped repeatedly, was rescued when members of her family heard her screams on Wednesday evening, police said.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday sent out a tough message to authorities that "action and not words" are necessary to stop recurrence of such incidents.
"Congress president Sonia Gandhi has condemned the heinous incident of rape of the five-year-old girl. She has appealed to the government and the administration that action and not words are required to ensure that such incidents never happen again in future," party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told a news agency.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde promised action against policemen who are found to be guilty of trying to hush up the rape case of a five-year-old girl by allegedly offering money to her parents.
"An enquiry is going on to find out if there was any lapse on the part of police. We will take action against the policemen who are found to be guilty. We are waiting for the report. Give us some time, we will take action," he told reporters here.
Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj expressed shock at the brutal rape of a five-year-old in Delhi.
"We had thought after the Nirbhaya rape case that there will be change. But, I am saddened that the situation has become even worse," the BJP leader said. "Girl child or grown-up women, nobody is safe," Sushma said.
BJP president Rajnath Singh said the central and Delhi government have failed to take required measures to curb cases of rapes in the national capital.
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today met the family of the five-year-old rape victim at AIIMS and enquired about her health.
The minister assured the girl`s parents of all help and medical care of the victim. He also met the doctors looking after her treatment and instructed them to provide best medical treatment.
Expressing shock over the brutal rape of the five-year-old girl, Union Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath emphasised on the need for men to "change their mentality".
"It is a shocking incident and the way this five-year-old girl was raped shows the sick mentality of men. There is a need to change this mentality," Tirath said.
Reacting to the horrific rape incident in the national capital, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said that people’s mindset needs to be changed to check crime against women.
Speaking exclusively to Zee Media Sharad Yadav said that only amending laws wouldn’t help, but mindset needs to be changed to stop rape cases.
Brinda Karat also lashed out at the Delhi Police for refusing to file the FIR in the first instance and trying to bribe the parents of the girl to keep silent, and demanded that the men in uniform violating the laws should be criminally prosecuted.
"The issue I would like to raise is the issue of the terrible brutal rape of this child in Delhi. It makes one wonder where Indian society is going to because the role of the Delhi Police in this entire incident has been absolutely outrageous and highly objectionable. Instead of immediately lodging the FIR and providing help to the family, the police did the opposite," said Karat.
