YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy addressing media persons at the GGH in Guntur on October 23, 2024, after consoling the family of a woman who was allegedly murdered by a TDP leader in Tenali a few days ago.
| Photo Credit: T. Vijaya Kumar
YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy insisted that the Telugu Desam Party-led (TDP) NDA government in Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) unleashed ‘red book rule’ since its formation four-and-a-half months ago, going by alleged attempts to hush up cases of heinous attacks on women and girls by TDP leaders and their henchmen.
“It was evident from 77 incidents of attack, rape and sexual abuse on women and girls during the period,” he said in a chat with media persons after consoling the family of a 25-year-old woman of Tenali in Guntur district who was purportedly raped and murdered by a TDP leader and his accomplices, at the GGH in Guntur on Wednesday.
He said there were photographs of Naveen, the accused in the Tenali incident, with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Guntur MP Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, suggesting that he had the support of the TDP leaders.
In another case, a 16-year-old girl was raped after being drugged in Pithapuram constituency but the local MLA and Deputy CM K. Pawan Kalyan did not care to meet her family and give them an assurance that the culprits would be brought to book and stringent action taken.
The accused in this case, whose wife was a municipal Councillor, was also a TDP activist and he could be seen in photographs with Minister Nara Lokesh. Further, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said Hindupur MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna maintained stoic silence on the gangrape of a woman and her daughter-in-law in his constituency.
In spite of all these, the NDA government was not bothered about its responsibility to crack the cases and have deterrent punishment given to the criminals.
In sharp contrast, the YSRCP government had saved more than 31,600 women and girls from attacks through the Disha app, which won a national award. Unfortunately, Mr. Lokesh and Vangalapudi Anitha have burnt copies of the Disha app G.O., in a mockery of the system that was widely appreciated.
The Disha programme consisted of POCSO courts and special public prosecutors, police stations dedicated to protecting women and girls in distress. A whole infrastructure was created for that.
“Mr. Naidu and others should tender public apologies for the string of offences on women and girls,” Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said, demanding that an ex-gratia of ₹10 lakh each should be announced to victims in each one of the six recent incidents. “Even if the government does not give ex-gratia, the YSRCP would extend a financial assistance of ₹10 lakh each to the victims,” he added.
Published – October 23, 2024 03:11 pm IST
