Shortly after a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll revealed that India was the most dangerous country for women, India's opposition leader Rahul Gandhi launched an attack on prime minister Narendra Modi calling it a shame.
"While our PM tiptoes around his garden making yoga videos, India leads Afghanistan, Syria and Saudi Arabia in rape and violence against women!" Gandhi tweeted. "What a shame for our country!"
India jumped to the top of the list due to high risk of sexual violence against women. In 2011, India was ranked fourth.
According to reports, crimes against women have jumped to 83 percent from 2007 to 2016, resulting in 39 crimes every hour. To combat this, the Indian government has put in stringent measures such as recommending the death penalty for child rapists. But many say this could result in perpetrators killing off the victim to avoid detection.
The recent poll has caused quite a stir with social activists and celebrities slamming the right-wing government. Indian actor Jaaved Jaaferi wrote on Twitter: "And the winner is ... India the most dangerous country to be a woman, survey shows".
Bollywood director Alankrita Shrivastava told the Thomson Reuters Foundation: "The history of our society is entrenched in patriarchy and misogyny. We discriminate against women, there is female foeticide, there are unequal laws to property inheritance, no pay parity ... These are deep rooted issues."
Check out a few online reactions to India being ranked the most dangerous country in the world.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio with India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Washington DC last Tuesday (21)
Anit Mukherjee
V Muraleedharan
Dr Sasikumar S Sundaram
Workers clean communication equipment aboard INS Surat on January 11