Crimes against women rise while PM tiptoes around garden: Rahul

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue of women's safety, and said it was "a shame" that a survey found India to be leading in rape and violence against women.

Taking to Twitter, he also poked fun at Modi's fitness video and tagged a news report that said India is the "most dangerous" country to be a woman, citing a survey on the high incidence of rape and violence against women.

"While our PM tiptoes around his garden making Yoga videos, India leads Afghanistan, Syria and Saudi Arabia in rape and violence against women. What a shame for our country!" he tweeted. PTI SKC SMN

Gandhi was referring to a poll which said that India is the world's most dangerous country for women due to the high risk of sexual violence and being forced into slave labor.

The poll of global experts released on Tuesday said that war-torn Afghanistan and Syria ranked second and third in the Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of about 550 experts on women's issues, followed by Somalia and Saudi Arabia.

The only Western nation in the top 10 was the United States, which ranked joint third when respondents were asked where women were most at risk of sexual violence, harassment and being coerced into sex.The poll was a repeat of a survey in 2011 that found experts saw Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India, and Somalia as the most dangerous countries for women.

Rahul's reference to the PM tiptoeing making yoga videos is a reference to the fitness challenge that the PM shared this month.

The prime minister accepting Virat Kohli's fitness challenge uploaded a video saying, "Here are moments from my morning exercises. Apart from Yoga, I walk on a track inspired by the Panchtatvas or 5 elements of nature - Prithvi, Jal, Agni, Vayu, Aakash. This is extremely refreshing and rejuvenating. I also practice breathing exercises. #HumFitTohIndiaFit. I appeal to every Indian to devote some part of the day towards fitness. Practice any set of exercises you are comfortable with and you will see the positive difference it will make in your life! #FitnessChallenge #HumFitTohIndiaFit."

With inputs from agencies