Violence against women on the rise: Priyanka Gandhi

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday criticised the BJP government in Odisha following the alleged gangrape of a 20-year-old woman in Odisha and claimed that violence against women in the state is rising with each passing day. The 20-year-old woman was allegedly gangraped by around 10 men at a secluded spot on the Gopalpur beach, a famous tourist spot in Odisha, police said. The victim, an undergraduate student of a private college, filed an FIR on Monday, following which a case was registered at the Gopalpur police station. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, in a post in Hindi on X, said even strong words are not enough to condemn the brutality meted out to a student by 10 men in Odisha’s Gopalpur. She said, “Violence against women in Odisha is increasing with each passing day. In a state where the chief minister himself admits that about 44,000 women and children have disappeared in the last five years, not giving priority to women’s safety is itself an atrocity against women.” The incident took place on Sunday night when the woman, who lived in a private mess with three other women, went to the beach with her classmate boyfriend on the occasion of Raja Utsav. In her complaint, the woman said that while they were sitting in a secluded place, a group of 10 men came to them, caught hold of her boyfriend and raped her in turns.