Will a mere apology from rape-survivor shaming Kerala Congress leader pacify anyone?

Congress’ Kerala unit chief, Mullappally Ramachandran, exposed his misogyny as he claimed a rape survivor 'who has any self esteem' would rather kill herself than complain against the crime

Congress’ Kerala unit chief, Mullappally Ramachandran,

Congress’ Kerala unit chief, Mullappally Ramachandran, exposed his mysoginistc mind set once again when he claimed that a rape survivor ‘who has any self esteem’ would rather kill herself than complain against the crime. Video clips of Ramachandran, claiming that a woman ‘with self-respect/ self-esteem would kill herself instead of publicly accepting that she was sexually assaulted.

As soon as his misogynistic words sparked wide public outrage, Ramchandran is reported to have issued an ‘apology’. According to a report in the Firstpost, Ramachandran said his statements were misinterpreted by certain people. “If these remarks were characterised as being aimed at anyone in particular, I express my regret. If these remarks were misrepresented as anti-women in certain quarters, it is not right. I said it only to prove the depths to which this (LDF) government has fallen,” he told the media.

However, what he has said is clear:  “No one can trust a woman who publicly says she got raped,” Ramachandran said, adding, “A woman with self-respect will kill herself if she is raped.” The politician was speaking at a protest  by the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Thiruvananthapuram against  the Left Democratic Front government which has been accused of corruption. 

Ramachandran said, “Every day when she wakes up, she claims she was raped. A woman who says she was raped across the state, she’s dressed up and made to stand behind the curtain. She keeps asking when she should come out. Chief Minister, your game will not work here. This blackmail politics will not work here. The people of Kerala can understand it. As you (CM) drown and die, if you thought you can bring a prostitute and make her cook stories, Kerala is tired of hearing it…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. Senior police officers told me that you are planning to play politics by keeping such a woman in front,” reported The Indian Express. The clip was widely shared on social media as well.

 

 

Mullappally Ramachandran’s has been a former union minister and seven-time MP, and yet made such vile remarks against victims of rape. He was strongly condemned by Kerala Health, and Women and Child development  KK Shailaja who said it reflected “his mindset about women”. The state Congress chief’s words were allegedly aimed at a woman involved in the solar scandal who recently accused a Congress leader of rape. However, nothing justifies those brutally misogynistic words in a country when blaming the victim of somehow causing her own rape, is an excused used often. Such remarks also shame victims and their families, who are discouraged from reporting sexual assaults, and thus lose all hope of getting justice.

 

 

Minister KK Shailaja, slammed Ramachandran and said his remarks were ‘dangerous’ and ‘inappropriate’. In June, Ramachandran had mocked the minister who has been at the forefront of Kerala’s Covid-19 fight. He taunted and ridiculed Shailaja stating that she was fighting for the title of ‘Covid rani’ and ‘Nipah rajkumari.’

 

 

According to news reports, KK Shailaja issued a statement after Ramachandran’s comments on rape survivors, asking “Is rape a woman’s fault? Are women not committing suicide because they lack self-respect? A woman subject to rape is not a criminal. The people committing the rape are the criminals. They must be punished. Women experience great physical and mental trauma,” adding that “to say that they must kill themselves speaks of a person with a dangerous mind. This is completely wrong.”

The Scroll reported that Ramachandran accused Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of resorting to “blackmail politics” by using names of a woman who is a key accused in the Kerala solar scam of 2013. She had accused former chief minister and Congress leader Oommen Chandy of sexually assaulting her at his official residence in Thiruvananthapuram in 2013. “A woman who says she was raped across the state, she’s dressed up and made to stand behind the curtain,” Ramchandra had said, suggesting the state government was using her as a pawn, adding that “She keeps asking when she should come out. Chief Minister, your game will not work here. This blackmail politics will not work here. The people of Kerala can understand it.” He said that CM Vijayan should “drown and die” if he thought he could “bring a prostitute and make her cook stories”.

According to a report in The Hindu, the Kerala State Women’s Commission (KSWC) has filed a case on Ramachandran. However as far as the man himself is concerned, a token apology has been rendered, and it is back to the daily business of political appearances, and photo ops.

 

 

 

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