Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has gone ahead and broken his own record of outrageously misogynistic statements with this recent comment on rape victims:
“The biggest concern is that, in 80 to 90 percent of rape and eve-teasing cases, the accused and the victim know each other. In many cases, they know each other for a long time and, on one day, when there is an argument (between them over some issue)... an FIR is lodged, saying: ‘He has raped me.’”Manohar Lal Khattar, Haryana CM
Addressing a function in Panchkula district of the state, Khattar said that "the incidents of rape have not increased... rapes used to take place in the past and even today. (Only) The concern (over such incidents) has increased.”
According to Khattar, in the majority of rape and molestation cases reported in Haryana, the victims either know the accused or are in a prior relationship with them. And when things don’t work out, women go and report rape.
Talk about an utterly ridiculous claim to discredit the victims of rape. And it’s a brilliant move to make rape an issue about women’s temperament and vindictiveness.
With a CM like that, who is quick to explain the staggering number of rape cases in Haryana as just some relationship gone wrong, there’s no wonder that the state’s women’s safety parameters are screaming code red.
Not only does Haryana have the worst female to male ratio in the country, its rate of crime against women is alarmingly high. In 2018, about 1,413 rapes were reported till September, and the 100 percent increase in the cases of kidnapping of women.
The situation is only going to worsen if top ministers of the government give such defences instead of increasing security, enlightening citizens about consent and ensuring that youngsters get access to proper sex education.
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