Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday (September 29, 2026) called for an overhaul of a system that “blames the victim and shields the criminal”, urging the youth to protest against women’s harassment and rape as the government only responds under pressure.
“Stop punishing women for the crimes committed against them. Across our country, women are afraid to walk the streets, afraid of being harassed, afraid of being raped. And the government’s answer: stay at home. This is patriarchy at work: a system that blames the victim and shields the criminal. “Thousands of students and young people are on the streets demanding safety for women. I urge even more young women, especially Gen Z across India, to come out in greater numbers. Mr. The perpetrator is the criminal; please punish the criminal and leave women alone, he asserted. Mr. Gandhi claimed that women are scared to walk the streets of our country. “Stop harassing women; leave them alone. Start punishing the people who are committing the crime. Start changing the mentality of the people who commit the crime. Start changing the mentality of the men who mistreat women. And any woman or man who is protesting these crimes, I stand with you; I support you.
Citing the rape of a 16-year-old girl near a park in South Delhi , he said a woman goes for a walk in a park near LSR (Lady Shri Ram College), and she is raped.
It is time to smash it,” he said in a post on X. Noting that the solution is not to lock women inside, he said, “It is to make our streets safe, to confront the mindset of men who mistreat women, and to punish those who attack them, swiftly and without exception. This government is deaf to your pain and will only listen when it’s under pressure,” the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said. “Peaceful protest is your democratic right, and I stand with you wholeheartedly,” he said. Gandhi also posted a video along with his post that said, “Stop harassing women! In the video, he said a woman has nothing to do with an attack on her, and a woman has nothing to do with rape. This is absolutely unacceptable,” the Congress leader said in his post.
