Belagavi: Former Karnataka Speaker and senior Congress leader KR Ramesh Kumar landed in trouble after he quoted a very popular saying "when rape is inevitable, lie down and enjoy it."
On hearing the quote, the House members including Kageri split into laughter. Kumar quoted this popular saying when MLAs asked Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri to extend the discussion pertaining to farmers' issue in the assembly.
Responding to the demand, Kageri said he cannot run the House if everyone is given the chance to speak and it is better to enjoy the situation as he is unable to keep the discussion in a systematic way.
The social media users however did not take it as a laugh. They flayed the Kageri for not reprimanding the members.
Later, Kumar apologised and said, “It was not my intention to trivialise or joke about ‘rape!’ My sincerest apologies if I have offended you. But the situation in the House has deteriorated so much that I used that analogy! Will choose my words carefully in the future.”
This is not the first time that Kumar has passed such a controversial remark. In his term as the Speaker he had compared himself to a rape survivor when he faced the charges of accepting a bribe of Rs 50 crore bribe from BJP through an audio clip which went viral.
Kumar later took back his words after women legislators protested against the statement.
The Karnataka Assembly Session is being conducted at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, Belagavi from December 13 to 24 2021. (Inputs from UNI)
