Bengaluru: The distasteful comments made by former DGP of Karnataka H T Sangliana about Nirbhaya and her mother Asha Devi left many of the awardees and the audience disgusted. At an event organised, on March 9, to honour women and their achievements, the former DGP remarked, “I see Nirbhaya’s mother. She has such a good physique. I can just imagine how beautiful Nirbhaya would have been.”
It may be recalled that on the night of December 16, 2012, Nirbhaya, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, was gang-raped on a bus in Delhi. She lost her life due to the trauma on December 29. The brutal rape and trauma had triggered massive protests all across the nation. Several laws were amended to protect women against crimes such as rape, stalking, passing lewd comments and so on.
In her acceptance speech, activist Anita Cheria expressed her anguish to the retired cop’s remarks by saying, “When top government officials, from the police, seemingly well-meaning, think it appropriate to comment, appreciating a woman’s good physique, we, as a society, have a long way to go to change the mindsets and bring any measurable lasting change in favour of women.” She said that she had stayed back at the function only out of respect for Nirbhaya and her parents.
Reportedly, talking about the safety of women, Sangliana also said, “If you are overpowered, you should surrender and follow up the case later. That way we can be safe, save life, prevent being killed.”
Journalist Susheela Nair, who attended the award function, quoted the top cop saying that when a woman is getting raped it is better for her to not oppose and if she is overpowered, she should surrender and follow up case later to prevent being killed. “It was shocking and disgraceful”, she added.
Sangliana left the venue after handing out just one award to D Roopa, another IPS officer. According to sources, many other awardees, including journalist Pushpa Achanta, walked out of the event.
Ironically, at the same event, mother of Nirbhaya, Asha Devi, outlined the problems faced by people to secure justice. She exclaimed, “We have law, police, government but justice is something that does not come easy. Nobody now is scared of the law; law is not a deterrent. We, most of the times, feel happy during these once a year celebrations but that is only a token if it does not lead to change.”
