BENGALURU: The tone and the tenure of Home Minister G. Parameshwara statement about the alleged sexual harassment by women on Brigade Road and M.G. Road has been criticised by women and revellers.
They point out that the ‘insensitive’ remark is against the freedom of choice and tries to put the blame on the victims rather than the offenders.
Mallige, an activist with Mahila Munnade, a federation of women’s organisations, said that it is extremely ‘irresponsible’ for a person in charge of safety of women to speak like this. “Rather than taking responsibility for the incident, he is making the statement to escape from his duties. He should instead focus on improving the law and order situation in the city,” she said.
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Geetha Menon, an activist, said that elected representatives and the administration should not divert the issue about passing comments or remarks on the clothing or behaviour of women. “Rather than teaching girls to be safe and behave properly, we need to teach men how to behave,” she said. She also said that knowing the mob would be unruly on New Year’s eve, the police should have deployed more personnel and chalked out a plan for crowd control.
Several citizens that The Hindu spoke to said that it’s high time that society is taught to accept that women too have a right to occupy public spaces.
K.S. Vimala of All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) said that there is a need for the police and the administration to take action against the offenders rather than support the culprits by making statements about the nature of the atmosphere. “It is the choice of a woman about where she wants to go and what she wants to do. There is a need for the police to create a safe atmosphere to make this possible,” she said.
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Women’s panel seeks a report
The Karnataka State Commission for Women has sought a report from the city police commissioner on women allegedly being sexually harassed on M.G. Road and Brigade Road on New Year’s eve and has also asked them to take strict action against the offenders. Chairperson Nagalakshmi Bai, who was ‘pained’ by the incident, has asked the police commissioner to submit an action taken report. “We have learnt that despite the city’s top police brass and police personnel being deployed and the installation of CCTV cameras, women were teased and sexually harassed. There is a need to ensure that the police investigate this seriously,” she said.