HP Police failed to check rape and murder incidents: Rahatkar

The state president of BJP Mahila Morcha, Vijaya Rahatkar, today accused the Himachal Pradesh Police of failing to check the incidents of women's rape and murder and said these have hit the tourism industry.
As many as 1,309 cases of rape and murder and 2,289 cases of atrocities on women have been registered in the state during the past four-and-a-half-years of the Congress rule she told mediapersons here.
Rahatkar, who was here in connection with BJP's 'Himachal Mange Hisaab' campaign, alleged, "The failure and callousness of the police in apprehending the culprits and the efforts of the government to shield criminals have not just scared women here but also hit the tourism industry hard in the state."

The morcha president also said the transfer of cases such as the Kotkhai rape and murder mystery followed by the custodial death of an accused, and a forest guard's death to the CBI by the High Court indicates that the credibility of the police has "eroded".
Rahatkar also slammed the government for not utilising the central grant of Rs 40 crore for the development of women and children and its failure to establish "Nyaya Panchayats" as promised in the election manifesto in 2012.
The setting up of liquor vends in large numbers, despite protests from local people and women folk, is also responsible for the rising atrocities against women, she said.

"Also, four out of 10 youths here are drug-addicted and their parents are worried about their future," she said, adding that the mahila morcha would request the party to allot more tickets to women in the upcoming Assembly polls.