Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said seven women achievers will share their life journey through his social media accounts on the occasion of International Women's Day.
Extending greetings on Women's Day, Modi tweeted: "As I'd said a few days ago, I'm signing off."
The Indian premier continued: "Through the day, seven women achievers will share their life journeys and perhaps interact with you through my social media accounts," reports India Today.
Earlier in a tweet on March 3, Modi said: ""This Women's Day, I will give away my social media accounts to women whose life & work inspire us. This will help them ignite motivation in millions."
With more than 50 million followers on Twitter, Modi has one of the biggest followings on social media among world leaders.
He asked people to share entries of such women using the hashtag #SheInspiresUs, which became the top trending topic on Twitter about an hour after he posted his tweet, reports Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Greetings on International Women’s Day! We salute the spirit and accomplishments of our Nari Shakti.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 8, 2020
As I’d said a few days ago, I’m signing off. Through the day, seven women achievers will share their life journeys and perhaps interact with you through my social media accounts.
His support for the March 8 event came after he faced flak for failing to check violence against women following a series of rape cases late last year that triggered mass protests.
In November 2019, a 27-year-old vet was raped, suffocated, and her dead body set alight on the outskirts of the southern city of Hyderabad.
Another rape victim was set on fire and killed by a gang of men, including her alleged rapists, in December.
In the same month, a court sentenced a former lawmaker from Modi's ruling party to life imprisonment for raping a teenager.
These cases highlighted India's grim record of sexual violence against women despite enacting some of the world's toughest laws after the gang rape of a Delhi student on a bus in December 2012, which sparked global outrage.
One woman reported a rape every 15 minutes on average in India in 2018, according to government data released in January.
A Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of gender experts in 2018 rated India as the world's most dangerous country for women.
