Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Oct 17: Former deputy chief minister and BJP leader K S Eshwarappa on Saturday October 17 stirred fresh controversy with an insenstive remark on rape while interacting with a female journalist.

The journalist questioned Eshwarappa, who is also the opposition leader in the Legislative Council, on the silence of the opposition parties in the state in the wake of rising number of crimes and lack of police personnel in the state, to which he replied, "See, you are here, you are a woman, if someone drags you away and rapes you, what can we in the opposition parties, who are in other parts of the state, do?"

He made the remarks while interacting with the media after attending the funeral of the police sub-inspector who was stabbed to death by burglars on Friday October 16 at Ramanagara.

Eshwarappa's remarks have shocked the media fraternity and drawn flak from the ruling Congress and the JD(S).

JD(S) chief H D Kumaraswamy condemned Eshwarappa and questioned who Eshwarappa was 'provoking' by making such remarks. He also pointed out that home minister K J George had made controversial remarks on rape when he said that rape by two men did not amount to gang-rape.

The Congress said that Eshwarappa's remarks showed his lack of concern for safety of women. Chief minister Siddaramaiah also condemned the statement and said, "When has Eshwarappa ever made a sensible remark? It is a most irresponsible statement and he should apologise. It shows his culture."

Later, in an attempt to control the damage, Eshwarappa claimed that his statement had been blown out of proporation to 'create confusion'.

"Karnataka women are my sisters. I want to ask the state government what it is doing for their safety. The opposition is doing all it can for the safety and security of women," he said.

However, he refused to apologise for the statement. "There is no question of tendering an apology as it was a general statement and not pointed at the journalist. All I wanted to say was that as the opposition, we have done our utmost by protesting against crimes. We want rapes to stop, that is our intention."