Anurag Thakur Slams Chandigarh Incident After BJP Blames Victim

Haryana BJP Vice President, Ramveer Bhatti said the woman, Varnika Kundu, was “mentally unstable”.

Varnika Kundu was stalked, harassed and bullied in Chandigarh. 

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Preeti Choudhry‏)

As the alleged stalking, assault and harassment of a woman in Chandigarh by the son of a BJP leader was brought to light on 5 August, Haryana BJP Vice President, Ramveer Bhatti hit out at the woman, Varnika Kundu. He told CNN-News18 that Varnika was “mentally unstable”.

The girl should not have gone out at 12 in the night.

Also Read: Bullied & Harassed, Woman Shares Stalking Ordeal With The Quint

One of the two accused, Vikas Barala, is the son of Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala. Vikas was arrested on 5 August, along with another person, identified as Ashish, for allegedly stalking Varnika, police said. The duo were released in the evening, however, as the sections imposed against them were bailable.

On 7 August, the police also reported that the CCTV footage of the incident has also gone missing from five places.

Also Read: Chandigarh Stalking Case: CCTV Footage Goes Missing From 5 Places

I Condemn This, Men Must Respect Women: BJP Leader Anurag Thakur

Soon after Bhatti’s comment, BJP leader Anurag Thakur tweeted in solidarity with the woman. Condemning the attack, Thakur said that men need to respect women and their individual space.

(With inputs from news agencies.)

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