Karnataka Congress MLA, KR Ramesh Kumar has sparked criticism for an outrageous comment he made in a State Assembly session in Belagavi on Thursday, December 16. Ramesh Kumar reportedly said, “There’s a saying…when rape is inevitable, lie down and enjoy it. That’s exactly the position you are in,”. While the comment is shocking and terrifyingly so, it’s mind-numbingly painful to hear him chuckle while Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshawar Hegde Kageri laughed in response along with several others in the room.

The clip from the incident instantly went viral and one can very clearly hear the aforementioned exchange. So there’s absolutely no scope of it being a misconstrued comment. An Indian politician (one of many) really thought it was alright to joke about rape during an Assembly session. Here’s what happened:

Watch: Senior Congress leader K R Ramesh Kumar and #Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri have sparked controversy after the former made a sexist comment in the ongoing #KarnatakaAssembly session in Belagavihttps://t.co/7o0PkmSTyH pic.twitter.com/ZbhiSJdPir

— Express Bengaluru (@IEBengaluru) December 17, 2021

Needless to say, KR Ramesh Kumar was criticised as he garnered massive backlash for his joke if one can even call it that.

Smriti Irani, the Union Minister of Women and Child Development reacted to the comment by saying, “It is extremely shameful that inside Vidhan Sabha, a Congress leader has given a shameful statement about women that ‘one should enjoy while a woman gets raped’. Congress should first suspend their leader before talking about women empowerment and raising slogans like ‘Ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon’ in Uttar Pradesh.”

Following backlash from across the board, KR Ramesh Kumar responded with a sloppy apology. In a Tweet, he wrote that it was not his intention to “trivialise or make light of the heinous crime,” after doing exactly that!

He added, “I will choose my words carefully henceforth!”

I would like to express my sincere apologies to everyone for the indifferent and negligent comment I made in today’s assembly about “Rape!” My intention was not trivialise or make light of the heinous crime, but an off the cuff remark! I will choose my words carefully henceforth!

— K. R. Ramesh Kumar (@KRRameshKumar1) December 16, 2021

To take things to another level of terrible, Ramesh said, “If it hurts the sentiments of women, I’ve no problem apologising. I apologize from the bottom of my heart,” while Kageri added “Let’s not drag it,” to the mix of responses as per an NDTV report. That is enough to leave one speechless at the sheer audacity and the casual approach to a decidedly serious problem.

Today, a Delhi-based non-profit organization filed a complaint against KR Ramesh Kumar, requesting that the Karnataka governor take strict action against the MLA and to remove him from his position as per a Times Now report.

Cover image: Shutterstock