From Shraddha Walker To Hathras Case : Disgusting Victim Blaming By Politicians

Society always finds a way of blaming women for every problem related to the world. According to them, women are responsible for every injustice they suffer and for a better society, it is only the women who need to be schooled and not men, even when women are the victims.

Victim blaming is a common thing in the patriarchal society that believes that assaults and harassment against women are due to women's own faults. The blame is given to their clothes, their friend circle, education, job, hobbies, natural anatomy, family and every little gesture they make. The impact of victim blaming is that the real culprit, the assaulter or harasser, which in most cases are men, gets a free pass to do anything and get away with it because at one point while women get questioned. It gets worse when the supposed leaders of society, the politicians say such insensitive things without thinking about what example it will set. Here are a few such incidents.

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5 Incidents Of Politicians Blaming Rape Survivors

Shraddha Walker Case

In the Dexter-inspired Delhi murder, Aftab Ameen Poonawala killed his live-in partner Shraddha Walker, cut her body into 35 pieces and stored them in his refrigerator before disposing of them one by one in Mehrauli forest. Commenting on the case, BJP leader and Union Minister Kaushal Kishore allegedly said, "Those incidents are happening with all those girls who are well educated and think they are very frank and have the ability to make decisions about their future."

Chandigarh Stalking Case

In 2018, Varnika Kundu, a DJ by profession and the daughter of Haryana IAS officer VS Kundu, was stalked by Vikas Barala, the son of Haryana BJP leader Subhash Varala, and his friend Ashish Kumar while they were drunk as they tried to kidnap her. Talking about the incident, BJP's Ramveer Bhatti said, "Such cases tend to occur, and the probability is higher for girls being stalked if they are out at odd hours…Girls should not be seen roaming on roads after a certain hour in the evening."

Goa Minor Girls Rape Case

In 2021, two minor girls were gang-raped at a beach in Goa by men posing as policemen who beat up the boys that were with them. The incident highlighted the fault of the authorities, regarding which reportedly Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said, "When 14-year-olds stay on the beach the whole night, the parents need to introspect. Just because the children don’t listen, we cannot put the blame on the government and police."

Saritha Nair Sexual Assault Case

Saritha Nair accused Kerala Congress leader Oommen Chandy of sexually assaulting her in 2013 at his Thiruvananthapuram residence. Blaming Nair in the case, Congress' Mullappally Ramachandran said that it was all state government and her scheme to defame Congress. He allegedly called her a prostitute and said, "We can understand if a woman says she was raped once. Any woman with self-respect will either die or prevent being raped again. But, she keeps crying she was raped again and again all over the state."

Hathras Rape Case

The 19-years-old Dalit girl's gangrape by four upper caste men shocked the entire nation in 2020. When everyone was protesting to deliver justice to the deceased, according to the reports BJP's Bahadur Srivastava blamed the Dalit girl and said, "The victim must have called the boy to the field because they were having an affair. This news is already out on social media and news channels. She must have got caught after that."