Congress MLAs blast Ramesh Kumar's 'off the cuff' rape remark; demand apology from House

Outraged by the shocking remarks on rape made by Karnataka Congress leader and MLA KR Ramesh Kumar, Congress leaders have now come forward stating that they condemn the comment. Congress MLA Anjali Nimbalkar on Friday demanded the house apologize for the event, while Karnataka Congress MLA Ajay Singh said that the remark was ‘very distressful’. Many leaders have also questioned Assembly Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri for not raising an objection, and laughing off such misogynistic comments in the house. 

Reacting to the outrageous remark by MLA KR Ramesh Kumar, Congress MLA Anjali Nimbalkar said that she demands an apology from the whole house. “This is such a wrong statement,” Nimbalkar said. “Policy makers should ask such words should not be raised. We demand an apology from the whole house. All lady MLAs will go to the well in protest and demand an apology. I have always raised my voice against such statements,” she added.

The Congress MLA also shared the video of the problematic comments in the house on her social media handle. Sharing the video, she tweeted, “The House shall apologise to entire womanhood, every mother, sister & daughter of this nation for such an obnoxious and shameless behaviour.” The Congress leader also tagged BJP Mahila Morcha and BJP’s official Twitter handles calling for support.

Karnataka Congress MLA Ajay Singh also came forward to note that he condemns the comment made by Kumar. Explaining the event, he said, “There was a discussion going on regarding crop loss they were expecting CM and RM response. There were lot of people from Congress, JDS wanted to discuss more. Then the speaker said I am helpless. At that juncture, our former minister and MLA made that remark.” He further added that the comment was distressful despite the leader apologising for the same. “Then he suddenly apologizes before national media. We definitely condemn this ...it was very distressful,” Singh said.

Congress MLA makes disgusting remark in Karnataka Assembly, Speaker laughs it off

On Wednesday, Congress leader KR Ramesh Kumar made a sexist comment in the Assembly as he said, "when rape is inevitable, lie down and enjoy it." The distasteful comment by Kumar came when MLAs demanded time from Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri to further discuss farmers' issues.

Subsequently, Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri asked how he would run the Session if prolonged time was allotted to everyone. Asking members to take the decision on their own, he looked at former speaker KR Ramesh Kumar and said, "I feel that let's enjoy the situation, I can't keep this under control and take it forward in a systematic way."

Replying to the Speaker, the Congress leader stood up and said, "There is a saying, when rape is inevitable, lie down and enjoy it." Notably, the Karnataka Assembly broke into echoes of laughter. Also, it is pertinent to mention that the concerned Congress leader is a repeat offender when it comes to making such obnoxious remarks, previously he had stoked controversy for casually comparing himself to a rape survivor. 

Image: ANI/ REPUBLICWORLD/ TWITTER