Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s recent remarks on the gang-rape of two minor girls on the Benaulim beach has sparked a heated controversy. Under pressure from the opposition over the gang rape and attack on two minor boys last week, CM Pramod Sawant, two days after the incident, asked the parents to introspect why their children were at the beach late at night.
During the debate on the calling attention notice in the House, Sawant said, “When 14-year-olds stay on the beach all night, parents need to introspect. Just because kids don’t listen, we don’t put the responsibility.” Government and police.”
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Sawant, who also holds the Home portfolio, later said that parents should also take the responsibility of ensuring the safety of their children and indicated that they should not let their children, especially minors, go out at night. He also informed that four people were immediately arrested and one of them was a government employee who has been suspended.
His comment has put him in hot water. The chief minister has come under heavy criticism for blaming the victims and their parents.
Reacting to his comments, Goa Forward Party’s Vijay Sardesai criticized Sawant for trying to lay the blame on the children and their parents. Sardesai said that if the police and the state government cannot protect the citizens, then the CM has no right to sit on the post.
The incident took place on the Benaulim beach when four men posing as policemen allegedly raped two minor girls on Sunday, July 25. Police have arrested four accused, who threatened to upload photos of the incident on social media platforms if they were not paid Rs 65,000, the national daily Times of India reported.
Four people, a government employee, have been booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, and the Goa Children’s Act.
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