Rahul says 'India the rape capital of world'

New Delhi/Wayanad (Kerala): Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday that the prevailing situation in the country, according to international media, is such that India has become the "rape capital of the world".

Addressing a public meeting on the third and last day of his constituency tour of Wayanad, Rahul said the numerous reports of attacks on women and children are a cause for serious concern.

"Many questions are being asked abroad on why women and children are not safe in India. In Uttar Pradesh even when a legislator is involved in a rape case, the Prime Minister has not yet spoken a word about it. Today the situation is such that India has become the rape capital of the world," said Gandhi.

He also pointed out that the country is ruled by someone who believes in violence and in dividing the country. "There is a complete failure of leadership in the country," he said.

With 86 rape cases having been reported in Unnao from January to November this year, this district now qualifies to be known as the "rape capital" of Uttar Pradesh.

Unnao, with a population of about 31 lakhs, is located about 63 km from Lucknow and around 25 km from Kanpur.

According to reports, 185 cases of sexual harassment of women have also been reported from this district during the same period.

Some of the prominent cases, apart from that of Kuldeep Sengar and the Thursday's incident in which the rape victim was set ablaze, are the rape of a woman in Purwa for which the FIR was lodged on November 1 this year.