On Saturday (June 4), Telangana Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali courted controversy after he subtly blamed the minor victim in the Hyderabad rape case. While talking about the case, he said that people commit mistakes in modern times, implying that the victim girl made a mistake by going to a party in a club
He mad this comments when talking to media. On being quizzed about the action taken by the state govt against the culprits, Ali said that no leniency will be shown to any of the accused. He also assured that the investigation will be impartial.
“Because minor people are involved in the case, the probe has delayed by a day or two. Telangana police is strictly working on the case,” the Telangana Home Minister added. He then went on to blame the ‘modern times’ where people supposedly commit mistakes.
Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali remarked, “Advance zamana aa chuka hai… kuch galtiya ho rahi hai uska bohot dukh hai par police zaroor control karegi (These are modern/advanced times that is giving rise to such mistakes. I feel sorry about it. The police will do everything to control it).”
Rape apologists in India often blame a myriad of things, other than the perpetrator, to rationalise the heinous crime of rape. These include accusing the victim of provocation, wearing short clothes or not being vigilant about her surroundings.
In extreme cases, some politicians have trivialised rape by suggesting that young boys tend to commit ‘mistakes.’ While Mohammed Mahmood Ali didn’t directly blame the victim, he made references to ‘changing times’ and ‘societal advancement’ to contextualise rape.
The attempt by the Telangana Home Minister to suggest that factors other than that of the perpetrators’ actions could have been a contributing factor to the rape has drawn the ire of people.
It is notable that yesterday Telangana Congress and several others had alleged that the home minister’s grandson is also one of the minor culprits in the case. However later police had clarified that Ali’s grandson is not a suspect in the case.
Ali had blamed a rape victim for not immediately calling the police in 2019
However, Mohammed Mahmood Ali has been a habitual offender in this regard. In November 2019, he courted controversy after he blamed a deceased rape victim for calling her family members instead of dialling the police.
“She is a doctor, she is educated. Why did she call her sister first? She should have called 100 first,” he had infamously remarked.
Telangana Home Minister Mohd Mahmood Ali instead of accepting failure of law & order machinery under him blames victim of Hyderabad’s gruesome rape & murder case #PriyankaReddy for not calling 100 & calling her sister for help.
— Neelang Dave (@neelang_dave) November 29, 2019
Disgusting & shameful.
🤬#Balatkari_Mohammed_Nikala pic.twitter.com/QqZdVOqffv
Rape of minor girl in Hyderabad
On May 28 this year, a 17-year-old minor girl went to attend a party at the Amnesia and Insomnia Pub in Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad, which was hosted by two of her friends.
In his complaint to the jubilee hills police station on June 1, the girl’s father informed that the accused took her out of the pub, forced her in a Mercedes car and then gang-raped her.
Based on the complaint of the minor girl’s father, a case was registered against the accused under Sections 354, and Section 323 of the IPC and Sections 9 and 10 of the POCSO Act.
Later, the girl was sent to the counselling centre. Following her statement to the police, she was medically examined and Section 376 of the IPC was added to the FIR for gang rape. The police had identified all five accused involved in the case. Out of the five, three are juveniles and the rest are adults.
