As the battle for the Lok Sabha elections 2019 continues, one of the most talked about issues this year is about women safety. Cutting across age groups and geographic locations, women voters from all over the country have expressed their views on how important an issue it is and how they will prefer to vote for a candidate who will address the women safety than others.?
87 percent of the voters that participated in a Facebook poll by Indiatimes also feel that safety of women should be one of the most important topics in the 2019 elections.
While every political party has made tall promises on what they plan to do if voted to power, to improve women security, many feel that little has been achieved in that front so far.
Though women safety was an issue the country has been struggling with for many years, one of the most high profile incidents that brought it to the public discourse and policy-making was the brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student on a moving bus in December 2012.
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The incident often referred to as 'Nirbhaya case' highlighted how vulnerable women in India are, even in a metro city like Delhi.
Following the outrage over the incident, a number of laws were amended and new security measures were announced.
But over six years down the line, the family that lived through the harrowing incident feels that politicians have failed to address the issue of women safety.?
Badri Nath Singh, and Asha Devi, the parents of the victim said that they are tired of parties promising them justice and doing nothing about it.??
BCCL/ FILE
Successive governments have not done enough to implement measures for the safety of women and children who continue to be ¡°victims of bestiality¡±, they alleged.
"CCTV cameras are yet to be installed... the country is still unsafe, mothers still worry till their daughters return home. People have no faith in the system. All the governments have failed us. I don't feel like voting for any party this time," Asha Devi said.
The family also felt that the system has failed to deliver justice to them as the culprits continue to be alive, even years after they were sentenced to death.
BCCL/ FILE
¡°All parties talk about women¡¯s dignity and empowerment but have no road map and they lack the will to do what they promise. At the end of the day, it remains only our pain, our struggle, our battle, and our helplessness,¡± Nath said adding that he doesn't feel like voting this time as his faith in the system has been shaken.