‘They should not have gone there’: K’taka home minister on Mysuru gangrape

Mysuru: Karnataka home minister Araga Jnanendra on Thursday speaking about the horrendous gang rape in Mysuru said that ‘they (the victim and her friend) should not have gone there’.

The perpetrators of the Mysuru gangrape will soon be caught and brought to justice, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is in New Delhi, said on Thursday as political mudslinging between the BJP and the Congress began over the alleged gangrape.

Karnataka home minister Araga Jnanendra told news agency ANI that the incident took place at a deserted area where the girl went with her male friend. “They should not have gone there,” the minister said evoking a sharp response from the Congress.

Slamming the Congress for making it a political issue, the home minister then said something bizarre. “Rape has happened there (in Mysuru), but the Congress was trying to rape me, they are trying to rape the Home Minister. They are trying to gain political mileage,” he said.

State Congress president D.K. Shivakumar said the home minister should arrest Congress members he is accusing of the crime. “He (Home Minister) has claimed that Congress was raping him, he is using the word rape very lightly…it seems he likes that word. I seek the response of BJP leaders on this statement. When home minister is saying that Congress is raping him, what is the administration of the state doing?” he said.

Targeting Jnanendra for his comment that the victim should not have gone to deserted place, the Congress party said, “Home Minister you have the onus of protecting the state, are you not ashamed of making such a shabby remark?”

On Tuesday, a college girl was allegedly raped by five men near Chamundi Hill in Mysuru. The girl was accompanied by a male friend and both of them are now undergoing treatment. The duo reportedly went to Chamundi Hill and was returning from there when they were stopped by the perpetrators.