Haryana State Commission for Women (HSCW) chairperson Renu Bhatia has come under fire over her certain insensitive remarks while addressing a function about awareness of law and cybercrime on Tuesday. Speaking at RKSD College in Kaithal, she said that girls who visit OYO rooms with their boyfriends do not go there to perform "Hanuman ji's aarti".
Bhatia was delivering a lecture on sexual offences when she made the remark to a bunch of young girls. According to a report by The Print, she said that young people visiting OYOs to celebrate birthdays has an inherent meaning that everyone understood. Further, she said that parents would permit their children to visit a restaurant or a pub to celebrate birthdays but would never do so when it came to OYOs.
Bhatia, who believes that there was nothing wrong to warn young girls and boys against visiting OYOs, stated that later they should not complain of "anything bad happening" because visiting such places for parties comes with "something bad in mind".
“We have become so mature in other things that we know what we need from our parents. But the moment children pass Class 12, they start feeling as if they have wings, an udan khatola (flying machine). Girls start feeling that they are free from school dress and can wear whatever they like. They like to wear the most modern dresses. Boys think now they are free from school bags and will have a bike and a girlfriend,” she added, as reported by The Print.
Further, Bhatia apologised for using 'Hanuman ji' while speaking about sexual offence and reiterated that her words on safety of girls were misinterpreted by the media.
