- Thursday, March 06, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
At a time when a brutal murder of a young woman allegedly by her live-in partner has left India shocked and fresh gory details are emerging almost every day, a minister from the country’s Narendra Modi government has come up with a controversial statement.
Kaushal Kishore, a junior minister in the ministry of housing and urban affairs, put the blame on “educated women” while speaking to a television channel about the gruesome incident in Delhi. A man named Aftab Amin Poonawalla allegedly strangled his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and chopped her body into more than 30 pieces in May. The incident came to light this month.
Poonawalla has been arrested and charged with murder and an investigation is underway.
Kishore, who is a parliamentarian from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, said such crimes are taking place because of “mistakes” made by “educated women”.
“They are the ones who get stuck in such situations,” he said.
In an interview with CNN-News18 channel on Thursday (17), Kishore said that educated women in India were not following the traditions and opting to live with their parents before marriage.
“If you really fall in love with someone, get married first. What’s this live-in relationship? Such methods are encouraging crimes,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said.
In India, live-in relationships are still seen with suspicion and marriages are considered an essential part of a woman’s life.
Speaking about the Delhi incident, the minister said the victim chose to live with her partner overlooking the fact that her parents were against it.
“An educated girl made this decision. They [women] think they are very frank and have the ability to take decisions about their future but it’s a mistake,” he said.
Kishore’s viewpoint triggered a controversy with many accusing him of harbouring misogynistic thinking.
“Surprised he didn’t say girls are responsible for being born into this nation. Shameless, heartless and cruel, [that] blame-the-woman-for-all problems mentality continues to thrive,” Priyanka Chaturvedi, a member of the parliament from Shiv Sena, said.
Surprised he didn’t say girls are responsible for being born into this nation. Shameless, heartless and cruel, blame-the-woman-for-all problems mentality continues to thrive. https://t.co/ILYGHjwsMX
— Priyanka Chaturvedi?? (@priyankac19) November 17, 2022
She also said Indian prime minister Narendra Modi should sack Kishore for his remarks.
A few months ago, the BJP government of the western state of Gujarat made the headlines for releasing 11 men convicted of gang-raping a pregnant Muslim woman during the 2022 riots and murdering many of her family members, including her three-year-old daughter.
These instances have happened after Modi has repeatedly appealed to his countrymen to respect women.
