Bhopal most unsafe for women in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal, March 10 (IANS) Even as this Madhya Pradesh capital has been declared the second safest city in the country, figures revealed by Home Minister Uma Shankar Gupta in the state assembly Wednesday indicate that the
city was most unsafe for women in the state.

A study conducted by Institute for Competitiveness and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) that indicates many benchmarks for Urban Development & Prosperity of India Tuesday announced that Delhi was the safest city in the country, followed by Bangalore and Bhopal in the second position.

However, Bhopal has been receiving a lot of flak from various sections of the media, which have been terming it as one of the most unsafe cities in India with chain snatchings and incidents of outraging the modesty of women becoming the order of the day.

Giving the figures of crime against women in the state, the home minister told the house Wednesday that in eight months from June 16, 2009 to Feb 15, 2010, there have been 1,876 reported cases of rape in the state.

"Of this, the maximum number of 94 cases were reported from Bhopal," Gupta said.

Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) state president and parliamentarian Narendra Singh Tomar, who Tuesday took pride over Bhopal being declared the safest city in the country after Delhi and congratulated Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for the achievement, refused to comment on the figures.

Opposition Congress said the law and order situation in the state was going from bad to worse during the BJP regime. "Crime against women was also increasing with each passing day with the chief minister and the state home minister giving protection to the criminals and BJP leaders hand in gloves with them," state Congress spokesperson J.P. Dhanopia told IANS.