LUCKNOW: After the gruesome incident in which a rape victim was set afire while on her way to court in Unnao district by her alleged rapists who were out on bail, Ranvendra Pratap Singh, a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, on Thursday evening courted controversy by saying that making any state 100 per cent crime-free was impossible given such a huge population.
“Even Lord Ram could not have guaranteed a 100 per cent crime-free society in today's time,” said the minister while reacting to the Unnao incident.
“When there is a society, then to say 100 per cent there will be no crime - this assurance I do not think even lord Ram could have given. So a 100 per cent surety is not there. However, if this much is sure that if a crime is committed, the culprit will land in jail and he will be punished severely," the food and civil supplies minister said.
The minister claimed that there was a decline in the organised crime in the state. He added that criminals, unlike before, did not get political patronage anymore.
"Today the environment in Uttar Pradesh is absolutely without any fear," he said.
The incident took place on Thursday morning when the accused, out on bail, attempted to burn the woman by dousing her with petrol more than a kilometre away from her home on a deserted road. The woman was on her way to Rae Bareli for the hearing in the rape case when the men attacked her.
With 90 burns, the victim was flown to Delhi by air ambulance for her treatment at the Safdarjung Hospital. Meanwhile, all five persons involved in setting the victim ablaze were arrested by the district police.