Date: 29/01/2014
GIRL'S BODY LANGUAGE MUST NOT INVITE ATTENTION OF RAPISTS: MAHARASTRA WOMEN'S PANEL MEMBER
Ramu Bhagwat,TNN | Jan 29, 2014, 02.17 AM IST
Woman's clothes, behaviour also responsible for rapes: NCP leader
NAGPUR: Remarks made by a member of Maharashtra Women's Commission Dr Asha Mirge on Tuesday are likely to stir up controversy. "Girls should be careful about what they wear. They should mind the time of their moving out. Girls' body language should not be such that it invites attention of a potential rapist lurking around," said Dr Mirge, who later apologized for the remarks.
A gynaecologist from Akola in western Vidarbha, Dr Mirge has been involved in social work for the last two decades and is also associated with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). She was inducted into the state women's commission only last month.
The doctor made these remarks in the presence of her party MP Supriya Sule, who was listening silently when she uttered them. Sule has been in the forefront of girls' and youth movement in the state, holding 'NCP yuvati sammelans' all over the state since last year. The two-day camp here was also on developing leadership qualities among girls.
Dr Mirge's remarks were in response to a question asked by a young participant on security and safety of girls amid growing incidents of rape and assault all over the country. Adding to her politically incorrect remarks, Dr Mirge went on to refer to the Nirbhaya case as well as that of the trainee photojournalist who was gang-raped at the Shakti Mills Compound in Mumbai.
"Why did Nirbhaya go for a late night show with her boyfriend? She could have gone for a matinee or early evening show," said Dr Mirge. Regarding the Mumbai case, she said the girl had taken an unnecessary risk in going to the secluded place at dusk when it was unsafe.
Asked for her comments on Dr Mirge's remarks, Sule said those were Dr Mirge's personal views.
Later, at a separate scheduled press conference, Dr Mirge offered apologies to those who felt hurt by her remarks. "My remarks may be seen as insensitive. They are my personal views, not of the women's commission. I am more of a social worker, lacking the diplomacy and finesse of a politician," she explained.
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