'When Rape Is Inevitable, Enjoy It', Karnataka Cong MLA Says In Assembly, Apologises After Row

Senior Congress leader and MLA from Karnataka's Srinivaspur assembly constituency KR Ramesh Kumar has courted controversy after he said when rape is inevitable, lie down and enjoy it.

Speaking in the Karnataka Assembly on Thursday made the comments while addressing the speaker of the house Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri.

On Thursday, when MLAs demanded time from the Speaker to discuss farmers' issues Kageri asked how the Session would be conducted if the time was allotted to everyone.

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"Whatever you decide I will say yes. What I am thinking is that let us enjoy the situation. I can't control or regulate the system, my concern is about the business of the house, it has also to be covered," the Speaker told the members.

What he said

To this, Kumar, who himself is a former assembly speaker said, "There is a saying that when rape is inevitable, lie down and enjoy it. That is exactly the position in which you are."

Shockingly enough, Speaker Kageri and other members were seen laughing in response to the comment.

After the video of his comment went viral, Kumar who had initially claimed that he had said nothing wrong, apologised.

¡°It was not my intention to trivialise or joke about ¡®rape!¡¯ My sincerest apologies if I have offended you. But the situation in the House has deteriorated so much that I used that analogy! Will choose my words carefully in the future,¡± Kumar said in a Tweet.

I would like to express my sincere apologies to everyone for the indifferent and negligent comment I made in today¡¯s assembly about ¡°Rape!¡± My intention was not trivialise or make light of the heinous crime, but an off the cuff remark! I will choose my words carefully henceforth!

¡ª K. R. Ramesh Kumar (@KRRameshKumar1) December 16, 2021

Not the first time

This is not the first time the six-term MLA has found himself in a controversy for making insensitive rape comments.

In February 2019, when he was the speaker, Kumar had compared himself to a rape survivor.

BCCL

He was later forced to apologise after protests by MLAs from his own party.

This is not the first time someone in power has made the 'when rape is inevitable' comment and face backlash.

In November 2013, the then Director of CBI, Ranjit Sinha had landed in a soup after he made the insensitive comment.

Speaking in the context of the IPL fixing scandal, Sinha who favoured legalisation of sports betting said: ¡°There are lotteries in states. If we can have casinos in tourist resorts and if the government can declare schemes for voluntary disclosure of black money, what is the harm in legalizing betting? Above all, do we have the enforcement agencies... it is very easy to say... if you can¡¯t enforce it, it is like if you can¡¯t prevent rape, enjoy it. It is better to legalise it and earn some revenue rather than throwing your hands up and letting things happen as it were.¡±

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