The Stream

Indians say #WakeUpAkhilesh after latest rape incident

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh under fire for reported sluggish response to rape problem.

The rape and murder of two teenage girls in a village in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) has stirred anger around the country. Some accuse Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and local police, who are of the dominant caste, of being involved in a conspiracy to murder lower caste girls. Yadav’s response when asked about the rise in violence against women was also seen as callous when he said to a journalist, “But you are in no danger, are you?” 

Akhilesh Yadav had ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the incident, but Twitter users considered the action insufficient, and used #WakeUpAkhilesh to criticise the response. Popular television network Times Now initiated the hashtag, which has been used more than 8000 times in the past three days.