Congress condemns Goyat's controversial rape comment
"This is an abominable statement. Rape is an offence for which neither any justification should be provided nor any justification exists. If at all any individual tries to defend this abhorrent activity, I think possibly there is a serious need for some very serious psychological counselling," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters here.
The AICC's strong statement came a day after Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee member and its Hisar district spokesman Dharambir Goyat told reporters in Hisar last night that 90 per cent of rape cases involved "consensual sex".
The remarks came as fresh embarrassment for the ruling party, which is already on the backfoot over growing incidents of rape in Haryana.
"90 per cent of rape cases are (a case of) consensual sex between the girl and boy.... The girl gets into an affair with a boy and she goes with him without knowing that he is of criminal mindset. It's not the state government which is responsible for rapes. Infact in most of the cases it is consensual sex," Goyat told reporters in Hisar last night.
The statement led to an outcry with BJP terming it "shameful" especially as it was coming from a Congress leader after party chief Sonia Gandhi herself met the victims, and CPI(M) slamming the Congress for its "hypocrisy" and giving licence to its leaders to "defend the indefensible".
Distancing itself from the comment, an embarrassed state unit of Congress issued a notice to Goyat asking why disciplinary action should not be taken against him for his comments.
Later, Goyat went into a damage control mode saying his remarks were "twisted and misinterpreted" and he had only expressed his personal views.