Hyderabad/New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh police
chief on Friday sparked a controversy by attributing increase in
rape cases to women provoking men by wearing "flimsy and
fashionable" clothing, a view dismissed by Home Minister P
Chidambaram who said there can no policing on the choice of
clothes.
Flanked by top police officers, Andhra Pradesh DGP V
Dinesh Reddy told a press conference in Hyderabad that police
cannot be faulted for rise in rape cases and instead blamed
women for provoking people with fashionable clothing.
"It (rise in rape cases) cannot to be attributed to
failure of the police. One of the factors (for rape cases) is
that the accused are getting provoked as women are getting
fashionable, even in rural areas. In villages more women are
wearing fashionable clothing and if one studies the crime
pattern... it is one of the factors provoking the accused
(towards rape)," he said.
In Delhi, Chidambaram dismissed Reddy's assertion,
stating people were entitled to dress the way he or she feels
and there can be no policing on choice of clothes.
"I strongly disagree with that statement. Everyone is
entitled to dress the way he or she pleases as long as he or
she has regards to the occasion, the place and the context.
Obviously, you don't wear whole lot of clothes to play
football or tennis and you don't wear swimwear and go to a
cocktail party," he said.
Chidamabarm said there cannot be any kind of policing and
"certainly not by a DG of Police".
Claiming that his comments had been misinterpreted, Reddy
later said what he meant was one of the factors behind
rape cases was the provocative dresses worn by women over
which the police had no control.
"Also some of the prominent ladies, knowing very well
what type of person DGP is, trying to react out of proportion
thinking the misinterpretation as gospel truth," Reddy said in
a statement following sharp reactions to his statement.
PTI
First Published: Friday, December 30, 2011, 21:27