Mayawati promises strict action against errant cops

Lucknow:  With a grim harvest of rapes to answer for in her state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has announced a new strategy to check crimes against women. The attention to detail comes after a high-volume attack from Opposition parties, and a protest march staged by the Congress in Lucknow today.

Last week, there were eight rapes reported in 48 hours. The violence against the women - most of them young, some of them Dalits - was compounded by policemen who brushed aside the need to register complaints and cases.

So the Chief Minister has warned that senior officers in charge of police stations will face punitive action - and in some cases jail - if there is evidence of any dithering when it comes to helping women victims.

Mayawati says she will also travel across the state to conduct surprise inspections of law and order after the UP Assembly session ends in August.

The government also plans to launch a month-long drive to check atrocities against women - details of this have yet to be shared.

In the last few weeks, the Chief Minister has sounded defensive, and some say insensitive, when asked to explain why her police force was failing to protect and assist young women. "If any incident takes place in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress government takes that opportunity to put a wrong picture through the media. The Congress government plays politics on any incident that takes place in UP," Mayawati said.

With elections in UP scheduled for next year, political parties are not shying away from punching holes in Mayawati's explanations.

The Congress tried to stage a protest march in Lucknow today, in open defiance of the government which had refused permission last evening, citing law and order concerns. More than a hundred Congress workers were detained, including the party's president in UP, Rita Bahuguna Joshi. The Congress slammed the decision saying it reflected the "fascist" style of functioning of the Mayawati government. "How can they deny permission for our democratic right to hold a peaceful march? It is ridiculous," Ms Joshi had said earlier.

In Delhi, Rahul Gandhi underscored his party's stand by visiting a young teen who was attacked recently in Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh. Her eyes were stabbed by the two men who tried to rape her.

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