On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi led a “silent march” in Delhi to protest the gang rape and murder of a child in Jammu and Kashmir and a teenager’s allegation of rape against a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker in Uttar Pradesh.

 “Women in India are scared to step out of their homes. The government should ensure that the women of India feel safe. This is a national issue and not a political one,” said Gandhi while Congress leaders and workers were seen marching towards India Gate before police were able to disperse them.

“Join me in a silent, peaceful, candlelight vigil at India Gate at midnight tonight to protest this violence and demand justice,” he said on his twitter handle before the protest. His tweets made not a single mention of the BJP, but Congress leaders blamed the Narendra Modi government of trying to shield rapists.

“Conscience of India is outraged by the BJP’s protection of rapists. The government’s slogan of “beti bachao (save the girl child) ” has turned into “betion ko BJP se bachaon,” said Congress leader Randeep Surjewala.

“The government is sleeping, and so at this time, Congress will have to wake them up. The PM had given a slogan ‘beti Padhao, beti bachao’ and it’s in his regime that our girls are being raped. He isn’t taking action against his ministers who are trying to save the rape accused,” said Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The Congress was trying to stage a protest the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu’s Kathua district. She was tortured and killed allegedly because the accused wanted to scare away the nomadic Muslim Bakarwal community living in the region. Thousands of members of a radical Hindu group after having links to the ruling party have marched to demand the release of the seven men accused in the repeated rape and killing of the girl inside a Hindu temple. Hundreds of Hindu lawyers have also protested that the men, two of them police officers, are innocent.

The party also accused the BJP party of shielding Uttar Pradesh legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who on Thursday was formally charged with raping a 17-year-old girl in Unnao district. The case sparked new headlines after the girl’s father on Monday died due to the injuries reportedly sustained while in police custody. The state’s BJP government on Thursday declared that the Central Bureau of Investigation would handle the case and decide if Sengar should be arrested.

BJP spokesperson Vaibhav Aggarwal, while he was speaking, dismissed the Congress party’s midnight protest and called it a “fashion walk”.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, senior party leaders Salman Khurshid, Ahmed Patel, Ashok Gehlot, and Ambika Soni also took part in the protest.

You May Also Read: Actor-Politician Kamal Haasan Advises Modi To Give More Importance To People Than Elections