Extremely sad and unfortunate: NCW chairperson on Congress MLA’s rape remark

PTI, Dec 17, 2021, 11:14 AM IST

NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma on Friday hit out at Karnataka Congress MLA K R Ramesh Kumar for his controversial rape comment, saying it was ”extremely sad and unfortunate” that the country still has public representatives who are misogynists.

The senior Congress leader sparked a controversy after he remarked in the Karnataka Assembly that “when rape is inevitable, one should lie down and enjoy it”.

”It is extremely sad and unfortunate that we still have public representatives who are misogynists and have a horrible mindset towards women,” Sharma tweeted.

“It’s really disgusting. If they sit in assemblies and speak like this how they must be behaving with women in their lives?” she said in another tweet.

Yogita Bhayana, an activist who heads the People Against Rape in India (PARI), said the comment by the “shameless” MLA came on a day when the country was observing nine years of the Delhi gangrape incident.

Sharing a video clip on Twitter, Bhayana said: ”This video of Karnataka Legislative Assembly is from yesterday (Thursday) when the country was observing the nine years of the Nirbhaya incident. To protect our women, we vote for them (legislators) and this shameless (MLA) is calling rape enjoyment.” On Thursday, Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri found himself in a fix as he was running short of time and wanted to wind up the discussion by 6 pm whereas the MLAs were insisting to extend the time.

”I am in a situation where I have to enjoy and say ‘yes, yes’. That’s it. This is what I feel. I should give up controlling the situation and take the proceedings in a systematic manner, I should tell everyone to continue your talks,” Kageri said laughing. He explained that his only grievance is that the business of the house is not happening.

Kumar, a former minister, intervened and said, ”See, there is a saying- when rape is inevitable, lie down and enjoy it. That’s exactly the position in which you are”.