Karnataka minister earns Brinda's ire for remarks on molestation

The crowds in Bengaluru on New Year's Day

New Delhi: CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat yesterday attacked Karnataka minister G Parameshwara over his objectionable remarks after women were molested en masse in Bengaluru on New Year's Day, saying he has no right to continue in office after the "reprehensible" statement.

"With his utterly reprehensible statement, the Home Minister of Karnataka has forfeited the right to hold office," the CPI(M) Politburo member said.

Parameshwara had blamed the "western ways" of youngsters for the Bengaluru molestation incident. The remarks were widely condemned.

Questioning the law and order situation in the state, Karat said the mass molestation took place in the presence of police, yet there was not a single arrest.

"The CCTV footage of the incident shows the licence the molesters enjoy as they are certain they will get away with their sexual crimes instead of getting punished," she said.

The former Parliamentarian urged citizens to speak out against such incidents or else the number of such cases would only
increase.

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) also filed a police complaint against Parameshwara and Maharashtra MLA Abu Azmi for their "misogynistic" statements on the Bengaluru mass molestation incident and demanded an FIR be lodged against them.

Massive hunt on
A massive hunt is also on to trace two men who allegedly molested a young woman on New Year's Day at Bengaluru, said a top police official yesterday.

"We are searching for two unidentified men who allegedly molested and groped the woman at 2.41 a.m. on Sunday. We have filed a FIR against them suo moto," Bengaluru's new Police Commissioner Praveen Sood said.

The FIR was filed under sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 354A and 354B (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).