BENGALURU: Bengaluru: Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara apologised Tuesday for his remark suggesting that crimes like molestation weren’t “uncommon in a big city like Bengaluru”, saying he never meant to trivialise the incident involving a woman who was stalked and groped by a stalker at Bharathi Layout early on April 3.
“If my statement caused pain to anyone – our sisters and mothers – I express sincere regret,” Parameshwara said, responding to the firestorm of protest by women’s rights groups and BJP.
The minister said he had always “stood for the protection of women” and that Congress-governed Karnataka had utilised the bulk of Nirbhaya funding and launched several initiatives to ensure women felt safe outside their homes.
The controversy erupted when the minister purportedly sought to play down the molestation case filed by police after 17 seconds of CCTV footage emerged of a man targeting one of two women at Suddaguntepalya in Bharathi Layout. Investigators hadn’t traced the suspect until Tuesday.
National Commission for Women said Parameshwara’s remark was “insensitive” and demanded a public apology. “Such statements trivialise crimes against women,” NCW posted on X, also writing to governor Thawar Chand Gehlot and CM Siddaramaiah to initiate action against the state home minister.
Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra termed the remark “an admission of failure in maintaining law and order”.
Parameshwara promptly returned the salvo. “Should I cite the number of crimes that occurred when BJP was in govt? If they claim no crimes happened then, people will laugh. This is not about making statements. I will take all strict measures necessary to ensure women’s safety,” he said.