Sadly, rapes in UP no longer shock

Not certainly as long as Mulayam Singh Yadav's infamous "boys will be boys and rapes are small mistakes" and his son Akhilesh Yadav's "you are safe so why worry" statements continue. Not only that - in January, Akhilesh Yadav had recommended that a rape case against one of his ministers be withdrawn in "public interest".

Of the 4,917 rapes committed in Uttar Pradesh in the last three years, more than 3,421 have been reported from the villages. In the last 10 months alone, more than 1,723 rape cases or attempts to rape have been logged with the police, of which 1,300-plus are from small towns and villages.

Official statistics reveal more than 13,263 cases of rape are being heard in various sessions courts across the state. In the last three months, 563 cases have been concluded with 40 of the accused convicted.

Police officers say the law is lax; the government says it has acted on rapes after they have happened; the opposition says the government must go and the people continue to hope against hope. No wonder rapes in Uttar Pradesh do not shock any more. Sadly!