Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 9 (IANS) A day after a 20-year-old Delhi University student was murdered in broad daylight, political leaders here raised the heat over the matter, reiterating that Delhi — the capital of the country — was unsafe for women.

“It is shocking that a girl has been shot in broad daylight. The rate of crime has increased but the conviction is going down. So the message going out is that you can do anything but you will not be punished. The home minister must look into the matter seriously,” Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Brinda Karat told reporters here Wednesday.

“This city is not safe for women,” she added.

In the Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shahnawaz Hussain raised a hue and cry over the matter.

“It’s a matter of shame that Delhi chief minister (Sheila Dikshit) herself said that Delhi is an unsafe city for women. We want to know what is the government doing about it,” he said.

Radhika Tanwar, the young victim, was a resident of Naraina area in west Delhi and was a student of Ram Lal Anand College, located in Shanti Niketan.

She was crossing a foot overbridge near Dhaula Kuan with her friends Tuesday morning when suddenly a man shot her from the back and disappeared into the crowd of students and office-goers.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit met Radhika’s parents to offer her condolences and assured them of justice.

“We have to create social awareness and the police also has to be more sensitive to fight crime against women,” Dikshit told reporters when asked about the grave issue of women’s safety in the city.

“This atmosphere of being unsafe is very worrying. The civil society and the law enforcement agencies, we all should get together and make women feel that they are safe,” she added.