Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday landed in a new crisis for his remarks that post-rape murder cases have increased after the enactment of a law providing death penalty for rape convicts. While the remarks drew criticism with condemnation of several politicians’ statements, the chief minister later clarified that the Nirbhaya case verdict was in “good taste”.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi on Friday, Chief Minister Gehlot referred to the December 16, 2012 Delhi gang rape case, which was later called the ‘Nirbhaya’ incident. The four men convicted of the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern on December 16, 2012 were hanged in Tihar Jail on March 20, 2020.
“Ever since the death penalty (for rape convicts) has been brought after the Nirbhaya case, there has been a rise in murders after rape. The rapist sees that the girl will be a witness tomorrow, so he not only rapes but also kills her. This is happening all over the country. This is a very dangerous trend,” Gehlot had said.
Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Maliwal, sharing a video of the chief minister’s statement on Twitter, condemned the remarks and said such statements by politicians break the morale of all the victims. “Today barbaric rapes are taking place in the country. After much effort, the law was made. Such statements of politicians break the morale of every victim. The job of leaders is to protect women and not to make unnecessary statements.
Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the chief minister’s statement was “unfortunate”. “In the last three years, Rajasthan has become the epicenter of atrocities against young innocent girls. Nothing can be more unfortunate than this that the issue is being distorted by making controversial statements to hide its failures.
Deputy Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly Rajendra Rathore said Gehlot’s statement was “unfortunate and shameful”.
Rathod also cited the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2020 data, in which Rajasthan reported the highest number of rape cases in the country, followed by Uttar Pradesh. Although the state continues to top the list of rape cases in 2020, the number of such cases (5997) has declined by 11.45% compared to 2019, according to NCRB data.
Rathod said the NCRB data and police reports show that the state ranks first in the country in rape cases. He also claimed that from January 2020 to January 2022, 4,091 cases have been registered under the POCSO Act. Rathod said that in the previous BJP government, a law was made to provide for death penalty to those accused of raping a minor. “Unfortunately, the CM who failed to curb the incidents of rape of innocent girls is now opposing the provision of capital punishment.”
However, Chief Minister Gehlot said the controversy over his statement was “nonsense”. “I said the decision to hang the rapists was given and it was done in good taste. But the rapists now know that the victim will become a witness and they will kill them (victims). That’s what I said,” he said, slamming the BJP for making his words viral by twisting his words.
CM Gehlot’s OSD Shashikant Sharma also defended the chief minister’s remarks. “He (Gehlot) made a statement on rising unemployment, inflation and rising crimes, which has been presented in a distorted manner by the BJP’s IT cell,” he said.
Sharing a video of Gehlot, another of his OSD Lokesh Sharma said, ‘Listen and understand… CM Gehlot expressed concern over the increasing trend of killing of rape victims across the country. The manner in which he spoke is being made a subject of controversy without any reason. He described it as a dangerous trend which is a matter of concern for all.
(with inputs from PTI)
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