Nitish Kumar blames porn sites for rapes, would write to Centre seeking ban

Blaming porn sites for the rising incidence of sexual crimes against women, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday urged the Centre to ban all such internet platforms which proffered voyeuristic pleasure through video clips of rapes purportedly filmed by the perpetrators themselves. Referring to the infamous rape and murder case of Hyderabad after which a couple of similar incidents have been reported from Buxar and Samastipur districts of Bihar, Kumar said he was planning to write a letter to the centre seeking a complete ban on such sites across the country.

"A disgusting trend has been witnessed..incidents involving women in far-off Hyderabad, in Bihar, in UP.. in all places. I have always expressed reservations about the social media and the ill-effects of technology, while not denying its enormous benefits", Kumar who is techno-savvy and an engineer by training said here.

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Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Yatra

The chief minister was in this north Bihar district on the final day of the first phase of his "Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Yatra" during which he proposes to cover the entire length and breadth of the state with his message for environmental conservation and combating climate change. In his nearly 45-minute-long address, Kumar referred to sexual crimes after speaking about his thrust on climate change which, he asserted, was in line with his social reform measures like prohibition and campaigns against child marriage and dowry. Ever since the sale and consumption of alcohol were banned, many people some of them highly learned ones have been unhappy with me. They tend to overlook all the good deeds of our government because of their frustration with prohibition, he remarked wryly.

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"But make no mistake. Neither are we going to make any compromise on the step that has already been taken. Nor are we going to let laxity creep in maintaining law and order," he added before veering towards the issue of rapes. "I am told about these porn sites...people commit heinous acts against girls and women, get these filmed and upload the disgusting clips. Those watching these naturally become vulnerable to perversions. I would urge the youths to stay away from these", Kumar said. "I have read in newspapers about members of the civil society taking up cudgels against pornography. I laud this effort and I would myself write to the centre to place a complete ban on such sites", Kumar added.

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Progressive leader, patriarchal state

The utterances of the Bihar chief minister, who has over the years championed women's emancipation and welfare and challenge the state's retrograde social order based on patriarchy, came on a day when four suspects of the rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad were killed in a police encounter. Less than a week after the incident in the southern metropolis caused nationwide outrage, charred bodies of unidentified women were found on two consecutive days in Buxar and Samastipur after suspected sexual assault.

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