A leader from NCP (SP) party in India's Maharashtra state wrote a letter to the nation's President Droupadi Murmu on International Women's Day on March 8 asking permission for women to "commit one murder".
Rohini Khadse - who is the daughter of the former state minister Eknath Khadsde - expressed her grave concerns on women's safety in the country. She accused the Indian government of being indifferent to the issue.
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In her letter to President Murmu, Khadse highlighted the deteriorating state of women's security across the nation. She claimed that women feel compelled to take extreme measures for change.
She then gave references of historical figures, saying, "At the time when their kingdom was in danger, heroic women like Maharani Tararani, Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar, and others pulled out the sword in the defence of their people. We are facing another kind of danger. Why should women today lag?"
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She also talked about the victim-shaming faed by rape survivors. She said it's always the woman who gets blamed for her attire, behaviours, and even the time at which the incident takes place, with people asking why she was there at that particular time.
"Can society explain why minors are raped? The social psyche needs to change and, therefore, we have made an emotional appeal," she said, as per a report in Times of India newspaper.
"We want to kill the oppressive mentality, the rapist tendency, the inactive law and order system. For this reason, we have sought permission from the President of India. The same party is in control of central and state govts, yet there is an inordinate delay in enacting stringent laws like the Shakti Act that was made by MVA," she told the newspaper.
(With inputs from agencies)