Times Are Bad: Kirron Kher Defends Earlier Comment on Rape Victim

The MP said that while boys need to be educated, it is the responsibility of women to be alert.

Kirron Kher

(Photo: PTI)

Amending her earlier gaffe regarding the Chandigarh gang rape victim, actor-turned-MP Kirron Kher defended her statement by saying that it was concern that prompted her to say ‘girls should stay vigilant’, while slamming the opposition for politicisng her comment.

All I said was that times are not good and so girls need to be vigilant. Chandigarh Police sends a PCR if any girl dials 100 at night. Shame on those politicising the statement. You have young girls at home, you should say constructive things like me, not destructive.

According to Indian Express, Kher who is the BJP MP from Chandigarh, had earlier said that while it was the responsibility of all to educate their boys to not incite violence against women, it is also important for girls to be ‘alert and aware’.

Kher was speaking in light of the gang rape of a 22-year-old stenography student who was assaulted by an auto rickshaw driver and two of his accomplices on 17 November.

Needless to say, her comment drew the ire of the opposition.

Congress’s Pawan Kumar Bansal said that he was “amazed how she gave such a statement. It seems like a light take on a serious matter. She instead needed to tell how she is going to make Chandigarh a safer place for women.”

Predictably, her statement did not go well with the country’s netizens either.

Speaking to Indian Express, Kher had stopped short of admonishing the victim for having boarded an auto rickshaw that was ferrying three men.

<i>Bachi ki samajhdaari ko bhi main thoda sa kehna chahti hun… saari bachiyon ko... ki already jab koi teen aadmi baithe hue hain uske andar… to aapko usme nahi chadhna chaeye tha</i>. (I want to speak a bit about the girl’s understanding... and to all girls in general... that when you see there are already three men sitting in an auto, you shouldn’t be getting inside it.)

Kirron Kher

Elaborating further, she drew instances from her own time as a young girl in Mumbai, when she would note down the number of every taxi she boarded as a safety measure.

<i>Mujhe lagta hai hum sab ko aaj kal ke zamane mein in cheezon ke liye sakhat hona padega. </i>(I remember as a girl… I think we all need to be alert in this day and age about such things)

Kirron Kher

When questioned on the lack of a Women’s Commission in Chandigarh, Kher opined that when the city’s highest administrational positions were being held by women like her, the mayor, and the SSP – who are all approachable – the need for a Mahila Ayog does not arise.

Speaking on the rising incidence of eve-teasing and other women-related crimes in the city, Kher responded by saying that these cases were not a new occurrence, that the Chandigarh Police have been ‘efficiently’ tracking all the cases.

Both Kher and mayor Asha Kumari Jaswal had earlier faced flak from the media for not having made any statements regarding the gangrape.