India takes safety of women very seriously: NCW chief
NEW DELHI: India takes the safety of women very seriously and the implementation of stringent laws over time is evidence of it, NCW chief Rekha Sharma said on Monday as she hit out at a US-based writer for allegedly “defaming” the country over the gang-rape of a Spanish woman in Jharkhand.
Writer David Josef Volodzko said he has advised his female friends to not travel to India alone. His X post followed the alleged gang-rape of the Spanish tourist in Jharkhand’s Dumka district.
Volodzko also referred to some incidents of abuse and harassment, including one related to a woman being groped.
“Did you ever report the incident to Police? If not then you are totally an irresponsible person. Writing only on social media and defaming the whole country is not a good choice,” Sharma said in response in a post on X.
Volodzko, in response, said Sharma herself has faced criticism for failure to respond to complaints filed by women’s rights groups over credible allegations of women being publicly stripped naked, beaten by mobs and raped in public.
The war of words continued to escalate. Responding to the post, Sharma said: “To vilify an entire country with a tweet is not only in poor taste but also unacceptable, as data speaks otherwise. As much as this incident needs to be condemned and perpetrators brought to justice, let me share a few statistical indicators and request you to remove this tweet.” According to data, she said, over six million tourists arrive in India every year, many of them single women.
“... and they holiday safely as India takes the safety of women very seriously, evidenced by its implementation of stringent laws over time. India views sexual assault as a very serious crime, and so should countries that, until now, have not considered date rape as a criminal offense,” Sharma said.
She added that NCW univocally condemned the incident in Dumka and had reached out to the victim within hours of the complaint being registered.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP-elect and journalist Sagarika Ghose also hit out at Sharma, saying the NCW chief had once again revealed the arrogance of power and her shocking lack of concern for women.
