PM, govt lack sensitivity to deal with crime against women: BJP

New Delhi: BJP on Sunday charged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his government lack the courage and the sensitivity needed to deal with issues like security of women and increasing frequency of rape cases in the capital and the rest of the country. Addressing a public meeting in New Delhi, BJP President Rajnath Singh said the UPA government is inching towards "zero sensitivity" towards the plight of women.

"The Prime Minister of the country should be like a lion and at the same time, he should have sensitivity. Every other day cases of rape are coming to light. Somewhere, the Delhi government and the government at the Centre have both become insensitive on this issue," Rajnath said.

In the wake of the brutal rape of a five-year-old in the capital, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj had earlier demanded that those guilty of raping minors and involved in brutal rapes should be given death sentence. The anti-rape law should incorporate these provisions, she said.

Rajnath also expressed strong views on the matter and held the government responsible for the present state of affairs. "The Central government is devoid of all sensitivity. The mark of any good government is sensitivity. But this government appears to have become zero-sensitive," the BJP president said.