Girls and women should not go out alone at midnight: BJP leader Ramveer Bhatti
Bhatti also attacked the Congress leaders, saying why did they remain "silent" in the rape and murder case involving a minor at Kotkhai in Himachal Pradesh.
Published: 07th August 2017 05:11 PM | Last Updated: 07th August 2017 05:11 PM | A+A A-
CHANDIGARH: Chandigarh BJP Vice President Ramveer Bhatti drew flak for his reported controversial remarks on the incident.
Asked about a section of media quoting him as saying that girls and women should not go out alone at midnight, Bhatti said, "What I meant to convey is that it is the responsibility of parents to watch over their children and their activities."
"It is a general statement and not directed at the victim. I am saying, be it a boy or a girl, parents should be watching what they are doing. I am not saying that girls should be confined to their homes," he said.
He described the stalking incident as "unfortunate and shameful".
"It is a shameful incident. Whatever happened is unfortunate," Bhatti said.
Bhatti also attacked the Congress leaders, saying why did they remain "silent" in the rape and murder case involving a minor at Kotkhai in Himachal Pradesh.
"See their insensitivity... I am saying that such incidents, wherever these may take place in the country, are highly condemnable," Bhatti said.
However, Bhatti's reported statement that girls should not step out during the night alone did not go down well with his own party colleague Kher.
"I think this is a very unfortunate statement, which reflects the mindset of many men in this country. I think that Bhatti should have exercised restraint and not made this comment," Kher said.
"There are many young girls and women who work late, they work in hospitals as nurses, at call centres, various other places or go out to watch a movie, go to friend's houses, we have to provide them security and safety. We can't put the blame on them why they were out at night, whether it's a boy or a girl, both have equal rights".
Barala's son Vikas(23) and Ashish Kumar (27) were earlier arrested for allegedly stalking the woman here. However, both the accused were released later on bail as they were booked under bailable sections of the IPC and the Motor Vehicles Act.
The incident had come to light when the woman, around 28 years of age, called up the police on Friday night, complaining that two youth were chasing her along a stretch of over five kilometre from Chandigarh right up to a point in the Union Territory, which is adjoining Haryana's border.
