File photo of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is holding a law and order review meeting in Lucknow today with the District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police of all 85 districts of the state. Senior officials are also present.
The meeting comes after intense criticism of Mr Yadav's government over the mishandling of the Badaun and other rape cases in the state.
Recently, the state government suspended a senior police official, and transferred more than a 100 District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police in a massive bureaucratic and police reshuffle.
The Chief Minister has also asked the Allahabad High Court for its consent to set up fast-track courts in all the state's districts.
Mr Yadav was further criticised for the callous comment he made on the rape incidents. Last week, the young chief minister alleged biased reportage by the media and suggested a "Google search" to determine that rape cases do not just take place in UP.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) criticised Mr Yadav and demanded his resignation. "It's been ten days since the horrific Badaun gangrape and murder case but nothing has changed. Over seven gang-rape incidents have been reported since. There are no attempts to curb the rising cases of rape," NCW chairperson Mamta Sharma said.
Two girls, aged 14 and 15, were found hanging from a mango tree in an orchard in the Katra Sadatganj village in Badaun on May 28. A post-mortem and preliminary medical examination suggested that they were raped and died from hanging.
Since then, a spate of such cases has come to light in the state. A teenaged girl was allegedly gang-raped by four persons in Azamgarh, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh's constituency on May 30. A week later, two sisters aged 14 and 15 were gang-raped by three men in Etah district.