Alok Vats, BJP leader, on a panel discussion, talked about how women in small towns and villages after gaining access to mobile phones make plans to go out and get raped. The statement comes in the wake of the rape incident in Lakhimpur Kheri, where two girls were found hanging from a tree.

The video was uploaded by Saket Gokhale, National Spokesperson of Trinamool Congress and added his anguish over the comments made by Vats as he says speechless and shocked in his tweet. He further asks if this is the official stand of the BJP on the issue.

On Thursday, while discussing the case of two Dalit sisters found hanging after allegedly being raped in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri, Alok Vats opined into the matter and stated that he belongs to one of the remotest villages of India and he knows what mobile does there. He further went on to say that people sitting in Delhi wouldn’t know the impact of what access to phones does in remote areas.

He further explained mobile phones give women the opportunity to make plans to run away from home as well as make plans to go out and get raped. Twitter was enraged and shocked by the statements made by the Alok Vats as one Twitter user wrote that the BJP leader really blamed the cause of rape on the use of mobile phones.

Another Twitter user shared the same sentiment of shock and asked the BJP why they haven’t thrown Alok out for making such baseless accusations, especially ones that invalidate the crime and blame the victim.

Alok Vats hasn’t been a stranger to controversy regarding women’s rights issues as he had previously empathized with the criminals in the Bilkis Bano case. Alok, while talking about the release of Bilkis Bano rape case’s convicts, stated that he believes that the convicts have suffered a lot after spending 15 years in jail. Showing his empathy toward the criminals instead of the victim.

The mentality of victim blaming has been a notion in the country as many victims who report the cases are under more scrutiny than the accused. The irony of the situation is that this isn’t the first case of caste-based and gender-based violence in UP. Previously, another rape case of a Hathras Dalit girl had caused a lot of stir in the nation. Now, Instead of noticing the pattern, the BJP leader blamed the victims in the case.

According to the National Family Health Survey-5 report, published in May, nearly one-third of women in India were subjected to physical or sexual violence. Whereas domestic violence against women tallied up to 29.3% in the country, and 30% of women ranging from age 18 to 49 have experienced physical violence since the age of 15 years.

The report also informed that only 14% of women who have faced physical or sexual violence by anyone have reported the issue.

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