ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Congress MPs rule out political motive in Jhabua rapes

Four Congress MPs who visited Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh have ruled out the possibility of the men who raped three nuns in Naupara village having had any political links.

They also expressed satisfaction with the action taken by the state government to capture the gang.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi today, two of the MPs -- A C Jose and P C Chacko -- said they wanted the incident to be dealt with as a law-and-order problem. The other members of the team were Prof P J Kurien and Vayalar Ravi.

Though the incident was not the handiwork of any political party, the statements by some leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad justifying it were unfortunate and objectionable, they said. No responsible political party or organisation could justify such shameful criminal acts, they said.

Replying to a question, they said Christian institutions and workers are being attacked in an organised manner in neighbouring Gujarat and some link between those activists and the Jhabua rapists could not be ruled out.

Chacko and Jose said the state administration has identified 21 people involved in the crime and seven of them have been arrested. Top police officials assured the MPs that the remaining culprits would be arrested soon.

They said villagers told them that rapes had taken place in the area earlier also, but hardly any action was taken by the police.

The delegation will report its findings to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report