Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: After ‘partly’ blaming the Delhi gang-rape victim for the horrific incident, self-proclaimed godman Asaram Bapu on Tuesday called those criticising him as “barking dogs”.
Addressing his supporters, an unapologetic Asaram described himself as elephant and said, “First one dog started barking. Then another dog started barking. And then all dogs started barking. If the elephant runs after dogs, then their (dogs) value increases and the elephant’s decreases. Why should I run after them?”
He also blamed the critics and media for misconstruing his previous remarks.
Reports had earlier quoted Asaram as saying, “Only 5-6 people are not the culprits. The victim daughter is as guilty as her rapists... She should have called the culprits brothers and begged before them to stop... This could have saved her dignity and life. Can one hand clap? I don't think so.”
The godman had further said that he is against harsher punishments for the accused as the law could be misutilised.
“We have often seen such laws are made to be misutilised... Dowry harassment law is the biggest example,” he said.
Today’s remarks came after Asaram’s followers had defended the godman over his controversial remarks.
Asaram had said that the Delhi braveheart must share the blame for the gang-rape. He had even said that the 23-year-old paramedic could have begged before the rapists to leave her.
Asaram's spokesperson Neelam Dubey told CNN-IBN news channel, "This happened on December 28 in a satsang amidst one lakh people. You have taken only one sentence, you are taking it out of context. You said she is as responsible. The men are responsible, but she is 0.1 per cent responsible for getting into such a bus. If she had got on to a full bus or a bus with men, she wouldn't have faced this. If she had prayed, then some idea would have struck her and then reported the men."
"Have you heard the entire satsang? Her inner conscience would have helped. The society and media should not fight about this," she added.
First Published: Tuesday, January 08, 2013, 16:15