India will progress only when women safe: Rahul Gandhi on Uttarakhand, UP incidents

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday expressed shock over incidents in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad and in Uttarakhand's Pauri, asserting India will progress only when women are safe.

A BJP leader's son and two employees of a resort he owns in Uttarakhand's Pauri district were arrested on Friday for allegedly killing a woman receptionist, police said.

Also, in Moradabad, police have registered a case after a woman was seen walking naked on a road. A grainy 15-second CCTV footage of the incident surfaced online on Wednesday.

"The incidents that have happened with girls in Moradabad and Uttarakhand have shocked everyone," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

मुरादाबाद और उत्तराखंड में युवतियों के साथ जो घटनाएं हुई हैं उसने सबका दिल दहला दिया है।

भारत जोड़ो यात्रा में, मैं कई प्रतिभाशाली बच्चियों और युवतियों से मिल रहा हूं, उन्हें सुन रहा हूं।

एक बात साफ़ है, हमारा भारत तब ही आगे बढ़ेगा, जब देश की महिलाएं सुरक्षित होंगी।

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 24, 2022

"In the Bharat Jodo Yatra, I am meeting, and listening to many talented girls and young women. One thing is clear, our India will progress only when the women of the country are safe," the former Congress chief said.