New Delhi, Sep 29 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday called for an overhaul of a system that "blames the victim and shields the criminal", urging the youth to protest against women's harassment and rape as the government only responds under pressure. "Stop punishing women for the crimes committed against them. Across our country, women are afraid to walk the streets, afraid of being harassed, afraid of being raped. And the government's answer: stay at home. This is patriarchy at work: a system that blames the victim and shields the criminal. It is time to smash it," he said in a post on X.Noting that the solution is not to lock women inside, he said, "It is to make our streets safe, to confront the mindset of men who mistreat women, and to punish those who attack them, swiftly and without exception." "Thousands of students and young people are on the streets demanding safety for women. I urge even more young women, especially Gen Z across India, to come out in stronger numbers. This government is deaf to your pain and will only listen when it's under pressure," the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha said. "Peaceful protest is your democratic right, and I stand with you wholeheartedly," he said.

 Gandhi also posted a video along with his post that said, "Stop harassing women!"  In the video, he said a woman has nothing to do with an attack on her, and a woman has nothing to do with rape. The perpetrator is the criminal; please punish the criminal and leave women alone, he assertedGandhi claimed that women are scared to walk the streets of our country. Citing the rape of a 16-year-old girl near a park in South Delhi, he said a woman goes for a walk in a park near LSR (Lady Shri Ram College), and she is raped."What is the reaction? The reaction is to stop women from going to parks at night. This is completely insane. Get this out of your mind that women are to be punished, penalised, because someone is attacking them and raping them," he said. Every day, he said, one opens the newspapers and looks at social media to see that a girl has been raped in Bihar, another in UP, another in Punjab."What is the reaction? The reaction is punishment, hampering their lifestyle, completely the wrong reaction. "Stop harassing women; leave them alone. Start punishing the people who are doing the crime. Start changing the mentality of the people who do the crime. Start changing the mentality of the men who mistreat women. And any woman or man who is protesting these crimes, I stand with you; I support you. This is absolutely unacceptable," the Congress leader said in his post.  /Agencies