DEHRADUN: The women's wing of BJP today expressed shock over the Muzaffarpur shelter home rapes and said all guilty persons must be punished.
Speaking to reporters here, BJP Mahila Morcha President Vijaya Rahatkar said, "What happened at Muzaffarpur shelter home has shocked everyone. The probe has been handed over to the CBI and ten persons in connection to the case have been taken into custody. Everything is being done to ensure that the guilty persons are booked."
Rahatkar was here to galvanise the women's wing of the party in preparation for 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Rahatkar described BJP as a party that believes in empowerment of women and welfare of girl children. She said her party had made amendments to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to make it stronger.
"Apart from POCSO, beti bachao beti padhao, building of toilets, Ujjwala Yojana and the party's stand on triple talaq stand testimony to the party's commitment to women empowerment," Rahatkar said.
She claimed that the BJP had always been in favour of the Women's Reservation Bill and blamed the opposition parties for keeping it hanging in the Parliament.
"Our government had passed it in the Lok Sabha, but it could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha due to the opposition parties," she said.
She said the party will field a good number of women candidates in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
"It is too early to speak in terms of numbers, but I can assure you that the BJP will definitely field many women candidates in the general elections," she said.
When asked on reports of triple talaq activists Saira Banu and Nida Khan joining BJP, Rahatkar said, "The party's doors are open to people willing to join. Persons who have fought for the cause of women are definitely welcome," she said.
Talking about Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, the places she toured recently, the Mahila Morcha president said women in these states had made up their mind to vote for Narendra Modi.