BENGALURU: A day after V S Ugrappa, chairperson of the Expert Committee on Preventing Sexual Violence against Women and Children, met a rape victim of Tumakuru to a guest house for inquiry, activists across the state have questioned the panel’s insensitivity in the matter.
The 32-year-old mentally challenged woman was raped by an assistant sub-inspector of police (ASI) in a moving vehicle in Tumakuru on Saturday night.
However, Ugrappa said it was the decision of the Tumakuru district administration to bring the victim and her family to the guesthouse and the committee agreed to it.
Condemning the committee’s decision to summon the victim, Saranya S Hegde, president, Mahila Dakshata Samiti, said, “This shows that these members lack sensitivity. They could have conducted the inquiry in the hospital. And what was wrong with her residence where she would have been most comfortable answering uncomfortable questions?”
Echoing it, Geetha Menon from Stree Jagruti Samiti said, “A guesthouse should be the last place for dealing with such a sensitive issue. In fact, it is not legal. The committee members know that they can easily get away with it and thus went ahead with what made them comfortable. Such proceedings have to be transparent.” Women’s activist Revathi from BPAC said, “There is no doubt that one has to do everything to protect the identity of the victim. But definitely a guest house does not seem to be the proper place. There are many questions to be answered. Was she accompanied by woman police? Was she made comfortable?”
Ugrappa’s defence
“We had informed the district administration that the committee comprising seven members would visit the victim. They suggested that they would bring the victim and her family to the guest house as her residence was too small to accommodate all committee members as well as other officials,” Ugrappa said.
He said they were later informed that the victim was at the hospital and it would be better if the victim and her family could interact outside, as it would otherwise draw a lot of attention to the victim and also disturb the other patients in the hospital.