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New Delhi: At a time the country is outraged over the rape and murder of a young doctor in Kolkata, an analysis has shown that 151 sitting MPs and MLAs have cases related to crime against women with the BJP accounting for one-third of such lawmakers.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) report, which analysed the election affidavits of 4,693 out of 4,809 lawmakers -- 755 out of 775 MPs and 4,033 out of 4,693 MLAS -- also showed that 16, including two MPs, of them were facing rape charges.
The cases of crime against women included assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty, kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage, rape, cruelty, buying minor for purposes of prostitution and word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.
Of the 151 lawmakers facing crime against women charges, 16 are MPs while the rest 135 are MLAs.
The report showed that the BJP has the highest number of sitting MPs and MLAs with crime against women charges at 54 followed by Congress (23) and TDP (17). AAP has 13 such lawmakers while Trinamool Congress has ten.
Five lawmakers of BJP and Congress each have rape charges against them. One each lawmaker of AAP, BAP, AIUDF, Trinamool Congress and TDP also face rape charges.
When it comes to states, West Bengal has the highest number of sitting MPs and MLAs at 25, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 21 and Odisha with 17 sitting MPs/MLAs.
The ADR and NEW said that all major political parties give tickets to candidates with cases of crimes against women especially rape and therefore hindering the safety and dignity of women as citizens.
"These are serious cases where charges have been framed and cognizance have been taken by the courts. These figures reveal the grave malaise and travesty in our political system where the rich and powerful MPs/MLAs with cases related to crime against women are able to subvert the system, use their influence to interfere with the police investigations, use the judicial delays to their advantage and in some cases continuously harass the victims and their families," it said.
It suggested that candidates with a criminal background should be debarred from contesting elections while demanding that court cases against MPs and MLAs should be fast tracked and decided upon in a time bound manner with court monitored professional and thorough investigation by police.
“As directed by the Supreme Court in February 2020, Political parties should declare reasons why candidates with criminal cases are given tickets to contest elections...Voters should desist from electing candidates with self-declared cases related to crime against women and other heinous crimes,” it added.