Delhi becoming rape capital of India: Smriti Irani

New Delhi : Two days after a teenager was gangraped in Delhi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani on Monday wrote to chief minister Sheila Dikshit saying the city is becoming the rape capital of India.

?The Mahila Morcha of the Bharatiya Janata Party had raised serious concerns with regard to the increasing number of rapes in the national capital. This was in light of a BPO worker from Mizoram being kidnapped and raped,? Irani said.

?Today the country has once again woken up to the news that a minor girl?s life has been ruined, a 18 year old girl being pushed into a life of trauma and horror. A girl whose whole life was ahead of her which she will now expend continuously looking over her back in terror.

?The most outrageous and deplorable part of this incident was the fact that the Delhi police did not respond to the victims SOS for over 90 minutes.

The worst 90 minutes of the life of a 15 year old, the baggage of which she will be carrying around for the rest of her life,? said the BJP Mahila Morcha president.

?Why did the Delhi Police take so long to react?? asked Irani in her letter to Dikshit.

She said, in the year 2010 till date, there have been 402 women who have been raped whose cases have been registered in the capital.

?This is not taking into account the numerous cases that the inefficient Delhi Police might not have registered in the past year.

Is this what the Capital is heading for we already know that a woman is raped every 24 hours in the capital?

?What will be next Mrs. Dikshit a rape an hour?? Irani asked the Delhi CM.

?In my previous letter I had expressed apprehension that Delhi was soon becoming the rape capital of India and the recent events have only affirmed my view.

?We hope this time around the Delhi Government and the authorities will take cognisance of the growing fear in the psyche of women.

For a country that boasts of equality for all in its constitution, for a city which is home to the Parliament whose foremost duty is the security of its citizens and the Supreme Court of India who champions the rights of the downtrodden it is unacceptable that a woman has to think twice before leaving her house.?

?Isn?t it the duty of the Government to ensure that half the country?s population does not spend every single day of their lives in terror??

Irani said the BJP will demonstrate against the growing number of rape cases in Delhi, if no action is taken at the soonest.

?If no action is taken at the very earliest the Bhartaiya Janata Party will be forced to come onto the streets of Delhi.

We demand a probe as to why the police did not respond to the victims SOS and the police officer in question must face immediate suspension pending a full and proper inquiry into the matter.

?We shall not allow innocent women to be subject to these horrendous acts and be at the mercy of a lethargic and unresponsive police force.

Forwarding copies of the letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Irani said: ?Mrs. Dikshit we sincerely hope that you will take cognisance of the growing apprehension in the minds of women today and hopefully this time around we will see some action and some steps taken to better the condition of women.?

?We trust that this incident has woken the Delhi Government and authorities from its stupor and that no other 18 year old will have to face the trauma that a girl has had to face yesterday.

Once again we would like to reiterate that if this is allowed to continue the victim will no longer be women but will be humanity itself,? she said.

In another shocking incident an 18-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and raped in a moving vehicle by four youths, including a minor, in Sultanpuri area of north-west Delhi on Saturday night.

The incident comes days after a 30-year-old BPO employee was abducted and raped in south Delhi.

Police officials said that in the latest incident all the accused, who were known to the victim, have been detained.

The accused abducted the girl from Sultanpuri area in a Hyundai Accent car and raped her. All the accused are residents of Sultanpuri, then dropped the girl in the same area.