The alleged abduction and sexual assault of a minor girl who was later abandoned in a paddy field in the Aluva area on Thursday resulted in severe criticism of the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala and the police by the Congress-led UDF and the BJP.
The incident, the second one in the area in just over a month, prompted both the opposition UDF and the BJP to allege the state was not safe for women and children as the police and the Home Department have failed to ensure their safety.
While the UDF demanded that the government relinquish power if they cannot protect women and children in the state, the BJP wanted the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to give up the Home portfolio that he holds.
In the last week of July, a five-year old girl — daughter of migrant labourers from Bihar — was abducted, raped and killed by a man hailing from the same state. The victim’s body was found abandoned in a marshy area behind the Aluva fish market, near the Periyar River.
Police had arrested a person from Bihar – Asafak Alam, 28 – who had confessed to the crime. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan claimed that the latest incident occurred just one-and-a-half km away from the Aluva Palace where Kerala Chief Minister Vijayan was staying under heavy police protection.
“It is a failure of policing. The police have become mere spectators,” he alleged.
He also alleged that such incidents were being repeated in Kerala and it was becoming a state where more and more crimes are being committed against women and children.
Satheesan said if the government was unable to protect women and children in the state, they should admit defeat and relinquish power.
