Here is a list of leaders whose comments on rape and women raised quite a stir in the past months
- Indian activists shout slogans against the government during a protest against the alleged rape of a schoolgirl by three teenage boys in Kolkata on June 2. According to Indian government statistics, a rape occurs every 22 minutes but activists say the figure is conservative as many rapes go unreported in the nation of 1.2 billion where sexual crime victims are often publicly shamed
Photo- AFP
In India, it seems like there is no dearth in the number of political leaders and other public speakers who have made it their sole purpose to comment in a dastardly fashion about rape. Here is a list of leaders whose comments on rape and women raised quite a stir in the past months:
No one commits rape intentionally
Chhattisgarh’s home minister Ramsewak Paikra: On Saturday, the minister said: “No one commits rape intentionally. It happens by mistake.”
Police cannot deter rapes
Babulal Gaur: He sought to absolve the police of any responsibility when it comes to curbing the incidence of rapes. “I said police cannot deter rapes, but can take action only after it has been reported. Rapes occur within closed doors or in isolated places. Without prior information, how can police prevent crime?”
Boys will be boys
Mulayam Singh Yadav: The SP supremo’s comment that “boys will be boys”and that they “make mistakes” should go down in history as the example of a leader who has little or no concern about the like-altering consequences of rape. Addressing a rally in Moradabad, Mulayam said that “rape accused should not be hanged. Men make mistakes.”
TV brings vulgarity into homes
SP MP Ram Gopal Yadav: Yadav, who is also Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son, said that the media was tarnishing the image of India, and UP in particular, by blowing the Badaun gang rape and murder case out of proportion. He also blamed television for bringing vulgarity into homes and “polluting young minds.”
Even the woman is guilty
Abu Azmi: Another Samajwadi party leader and father-in-law of actor Ayesha Takia, Abu Azmi had gone to the extent of saying that those women who get raped should be hanged and also that just because by virtue of the fact that married women have extramarital sex (when they get raped!), they should be punished along with the rapist. “Rape is punishable by hanging in Islam. But here, nothing happens to women, only to men. Even the woman is guilty.”
Source: Dhaka Tribune
