Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant come under fire for his shocking remarks over the gang-rape of two minor girl of the state.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant faced flak for saying that parents need to examine why their children were on the beach late at night.
During a debate on a calling attention notice in the House, Sawant said on Wednesday, “When 14-year-olds stay on the beach the whole night, the parents need to introspect. Just because children don’t listen, we cannot put the responsibility on the government and police.”
Sawant said that parents have a duty to ensure their children’s safety and should not let them out late at night, especially if they are minors.
Goa Congress spokesperson Altone D’Costa said law and order had deteriorated in the coastal state.
“Why should we fear while moving around at night? Criminals should be in jail and law-abiding citizens should be out freely moving around,” he said.
Goa Forward Party’s Vijai Sardesai blasted the Chief Minister’s statements as disgusting. “The safety of citizens is the responsibility of the police and the state government. If they can’t provide it to us, the CM has no right to sit in the post,” he added.
“It is shocking that @goacm is blaming parents for allowing their children to venture out in the night claiming that it is not safe. if State govt can’t assure us our security, who can give it? Goa has a history of being safe state for women, that tag is being lost in @BJP4Goa rule,” tweeted Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte.
“We directly blame the police, but I want to point out that of the 10 youth who went to the beach for a party, four stayed on the beach the whole night and the remaining six went home,” Sawant had said in the House.
“They were on the beach the whole night, two boys and two girls,” said the Goa CM,
He added that teens, in particular minors, shouldn’t be spending the night on the beach.
The incident occurred on Benaulim beach, around 30 km south of Goa’s capital, on Sunday.
Four men, one of whom is a government employee (a driver with the agriculture department), raped two girls after beating up the boys who were with them.