BENGALURU: Karnataka State
Women's Development Corporation
chairperson Bharathi Shankar created a controversy on Friday, saying women were raped at "unwanted parties, but not at jatres (melas)".
She was speaking at a panel discussion on women's safety during the launch of 'A Billion Eyes' campaign by B.Pac and Bangalore City police. The campaign calls upon bystanders to intervene when women are harassed.
Bharathi was answering an audience question whether
women's empowerment
was equal to women's safety. Listing
measures for women's safety
, Bharathi said, "When women go to jatre, do they get raped? They do get raped at unwanted parties."
The women's development corporation is a government of Karnataka undertaking set up to promote schemes for sustained income-generating activities among women's groups.
Bharathi compared women's safety issues to garbage segregation, saying one can't blame the government for problems in society. "About garbage problem, as a citizen I should segregate waste first. If I don't do it and keep blaming the department or corporator, what's the use?" she added.
Bharathi is a Bengaluru-based
Congress leader and is a political appointee. She headed the Congress women's wing of Bengaluru.