Guwahati, Aug 27, 2024, IANS

Guwahati, Aug 27 (IANS) Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia on Tuesday slammed the Himanta government, saying the BJP government in the state has "miserably failed" to provide safety to women. Talking to reporters here, Saikia said, "The Dhing incident was not the only one. Many such crimes have happened against women in the state in recent days. However, the police have failed to properly deal with the cases." "A 14-year-old was gang-raped by three persons while she was returning home from a tuition centre in the Dhing area in the Nagaon district. She was on a bicycle when a group of three men attacked her and gang-raped the teenage girl," he said. Saikia stated, "The police could not handle this issue. The state Home Department earlier instructed the police stations across the state not to register some select crimes against women, due to which many unlawful activities have not been reported." "Police have also failed to curb the menace of child marriage. The evil of child marriage exists in different parts of the state, but we have seen that a particular community was targeted in actions against child marriages," he claimed. "Crime against women went up during BJP's tenure and it was evident from the data shared by the Chief Minister himself," he said. "Since BJP came to power in Assam in 2016, the rape incidents increased manyfold compared to the Congress government's regime. In a rough calculation, I have seen that at least 2,000 more rape cases were recorded in the state after the BJP government came to power. This means that roughly five to six more incidents of crimes have been happening in the state daily and the police have failed to stop this," he alleged. The Congress leader also accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of "politicising" the crimes against women. "Since the Lok Sabha polls, CM Sarma has been targeting a section of the community and even claimed that he does not need votes from them for the next 10 years. Sitting at the chair of the Chief Minister, these types of unconstitutional statements do not go well," Saikia pointed out. However, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a post on social media platform X posted, "Nari Sashaktikaran has been the cornerstone of our governance. From Orunodoi to Lakhpati Baideo and AMFIRS to prevention of child marriage, empowering Assam's women to lead a life of dignity & self-reliance is our No 1 priority. "