Our politicians seem to have made it a habit to dole out offhand sexist remarks, the latest being Aam Aadmi Party’s MLA Somnath Bharti, who seem to think that beautiful women are the only ones who should fear getting raped!
In an assembly debate, on crimes against women and devising means to regulate it, Somnath quipped, “I am fully confident that if the Delhi government is given full freedom, beautiful women will be able to go out after midnight without any fear”. There was an outcry over this thoughtless comment across media channels.
Despite being a Supreme Court lawyer, Somnath has still to understand the gravity of his mistake and has aired the same views in a fresh statement given to the media today.”When I was a child, my grandfather would say that the security during the British rule was such that the most beautiful women wearing jewellery could go out at midnight from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and no one would touch her,” he reiterated. It’s time for him to understand that one has to go beyond a woman’s appearance while addressing crimes against women.
Somnath has, in the past, been involved in a racial attack on African women and has also been accused of domestic violence by his wife.
We respect the AAP’s mandate to make Delhi safer for women, but if this is the kind of candidate that becomes the face of their party then the common man will soon lose its faith!
Newsroom 10PM Somnath Bharti does it again! Should AAP’s motor mouth MLA apologise for his ugly sexism? @attorneybharti vs @Sharmistha_GK
— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) August 4, 2015
Disgusting remark by #AAP‘s Somnath Bharti, suggests women get raped coz they’re beautiful & go out at midnight. https://t.co/JNQWqYxM8m
— Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) August 3, 2015
Because everyone know poor, ugly women travelling at night don’t get robbed or raped. Thanks Somnath Bharti.
— Rituparna Chatterjee (@MasalaBai) August 4, 2015
In clarification, this is what he had to say:
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