Kerala Congress chief Mullappally Ramachandran made an apology of sorts on Sunday after coming under fire from women leaders, including those from his own party, for his statement on rape victims.
At a protest meet against the LDF government, Ramachandran had said, ”... it’s a desperate attempt by the (Left) to dress up a prostitute and make her stand behind the curtain and narrate her tales. This will not work.”
“One can understand when a woman is raped once. But what if she repeatedly says it. A woman with self respect will either die by suicide after she is raped or try not to be sexually assaulted again.”
Ramachandran was criticising the Left Democratic Front (LDF) after Solar scam accused Saritha Nair approached the police recently accusing former Congress Minister AP Anil Kumar of raping her.
The scam had rocked the then UDF government headed by Oommen Chandy in Kerala after reports surfaced in 2013 that some of his staff were involved in alleged duping of several people of crores of rupees by Saritha and her husband by offering solar panel solutions.
Ramachandran was apparently referring to Nair when he made the remarks on Sunday.
In his apology, he said “If these remarks were characterised as being aimed at anyone in particular, I express my regret. If these remarks were misrepresented as anti-women in certain quarters, it is not right. I said it only to prove the depths to which this (LDF) government has fallen,” Indian Express quoted.
“The government is trying to escape from the corruption allegations. This is not a statement against anyone. All other interpretations are politically motivated,” he said, according to Mathrubhumi.
Following his initial statement, state health minister K K Shailaja had termed the comment ‘highly condemnable’ while the state commission for women registered a case against the Congress chief.
“It was an anti-women statement from Mullappally Ramachandran. He said the victim would commit suicide after rape. Rape is the most brutal crime against women and children. The statement is a disgrace to the society as such,” Shailaja said in a video message.
Shailaja also said offering an apology after making such ‘deplorable’ statements was not enough as this was not the first time the Congress leader has made such comments.
Ramachandran had earlier made ‘derogatory’ remarks against Shailaja in June, calling her a “COVID Queen” and a “Nipah Princess”, referring to her handling of the diseases as the Health Minister.
“It’s a disgrace to the cultural society of Kerala to have a political leadership which makes such disparaging statements against women repeatedly. Political parties should rein in such attempts,” Women’s panel chief M C Josephine said in a release.
Lashing out at the KPCC chief, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat said it was the ‘most condemnable’ statement made by him.
“He speaks in the same language about rape victims as BJP does. We heard what Uttar Pradesh chief minister and other BJP leaders speak about rape victims, blaming rape victims. Ramachandran has joined that gang to blame rape victims for the atrocities against them. Shame on him,” Karat said in a video message while seeking his removal as state Congress President.
Congress MLA Shanimol Usman condemned Ramachandran’s comments and described it as ‘unfortunate.’
(With PTI inputs)