Karnataka Women Commission chief calls Ramesh Kumar's 'enjoy rape' remark 'unfortunate'

Karnataka State Commission for Women Chairperson Pramila Naidu on Saturday said that comments of former Karnataka Assembly speaker and senior Congress leader KR Ramesh Kumar are unfortunate. Speaking to Republic Media Network, Naidu said, "He is a senior politician. What he said is unfortunate for us."

She, however, said that the state commission will not take cognisance and initiate legal proceedings against the MLA unless they receive a  complaint in this regard. "I haven't got any complaint on this," she said.

On Thursday, KR Ramesh passed a lewd comment during the Assembly session saying, "When rape is inevitable, lie down and enjoy it." Instead of confronting him, the legislators in the House, even speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri, who is BJP's MLA from Sirsi, began to laugh.

A day later on Friday, the Congress leader called it an "off the cuff" comment. "I would like to express my sincere apologies to everyone for the indifferent and negligent comment I made in today's assembly about 'Rape!' My intention was not trivialised or make light of the heinous crime, but an off the cuff remark! I will choose my words carefully henceforth!" Ramesh Kumar tweeted.

NCW chief slams Congress MLA's disgusting rape remark

Slamming the Congress MLA for his disgusting rape remark, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma said that it is extremely sad and unfortunate that we still have elected representatives "who are misogynists and have a horrible mindset towards women". 

"It's really disgusting. If they sit in assemblies and speak like this how would they be behaving with women in their lives?" Rekha Sharma said.

Former NCW chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam also termed Kumar's comment as "insensitive and cruel" and said that women are not given respect as they deserve. "It's not a political matter, but women must be respected especially by the people who make decisions and are in power."

Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has "wholeheartedly condemned" the statement by KR Ramesh. "It is inexplicable how anyone can ever utter such words, they are indefensible. Rape is a heinous crime," she added. However, no action has been announced by the party.

Image: PTI, Facebook/Pramila Naidu