Nirbhaya, the 23-year-old, was brutally gangraped in Delhi on a moving bus on December 16, 2012.
Days after commenting that Asha Devi, the mother of 'Nirbhaya' had a “great physique”, the former Karnataka DGP on Friday clarified the remark he made was not an insult, but just a compliment, and "it was only to highlight the vulnerability of women in general", reported Times Now.
Speaking at an award function organised to honour women and their work on March 9 in Bengaluru, former top cop HT Sangliana had said: "I see Nirbhaya's mother, she has such a good physique. I can just imagine how beautiful Nirbhaya must have been.”
Nirbhaya, the 23-year-old, was brutally gangraped in Delhi on a moving bus on December 16, 2012. Six men brutally raped the paramedical student who had boarded the bus with her male friend to go home after watching a movie. After committing the crime, they dumped both on the side of a road. Later, some onlookers alerted the police. The sheer brutality of the crime led to nationwide revulsion and street protests.
Bangalore Mirror reported that his remarks also left the audience completely shocked. Following Sangliana's comment, some the guests at the event left in protest. Sangliana is known as an officer to have always fought against corruption and dishonesty.
Sangliana didn’t stop here. While giving safety tips to women, he said: "If you are overpowered, you should surrender, and follow up the case later. That way we can be safe, save a life, prevent being killed."
The award function was also attended by Asha Devi. However, Sangliana's disgraceful comments reportedly left the attendees feeling 'disgusted'
While addressing the crowd, Asha Devi said justice is something that does not come easy. She said we have law, police, government but justice is something that does not come easy. "Nobody now is scared of the law. Law is not a deterrent," she said, reported India Today.
This is not the first time insensitive remarks have been made on Nirbhaya. In 2014, finance minister Arun Jaitley had to apologise after he said "one small incident of rape in Delhi advertised world over is enough to cost us billions of dollars in terms of global tourism."