Clarifying his statements where he termed an alleged rape in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur a "small incident", State Labour Minister Shiv Dahariya on Sunday said he never demeaned any incident of rape and that his comments were twisted. He had made the statement while commenting on former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh's tweet, on Saturday.
"I had never demeaned any incident of rape. Any such incident is big. I had referred to the developments that took place after a (recent) rape in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh," clarified the Chhattisgarh Minister in a tweet on Sunday.
Earlier during a press conference on Saturday, while commenting on Singh's tweet, the Congress Minister had questioned the former BJP Chief Minister on his "selective criticism". "Raman Singhji has no idea. A bigger incident than Chhattisgarh's Balrampur took place in Hathras? A small incident took place in Balrampur and he is doing nothing except criticising Chhattisgarh," he had reportedly said.
Replying to Dahariya, the former BJP Chief Minister said for Congress the brutality with Chhattisgarh girls is small.
"Look at the perverted mindset (of the Chhattisgarh Congress)! The incidents of brutalities with Chhattisgarh girls seem to be small for them," Singh tweeted.
He went on to ask Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, "Tell me, are the incidents of rape in Chhattisgarh small even for you? Are you going to remove ministers with such a poor mentality today or tomorrow? When will there be justice (in Chhattisgarh)?" The political slugfest started after a 14-year-old girl was allegedly drugged and raped in Balrampur of Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh.
On October 2, Singh had tweeted in Hindi, "A minor was raped in Balrampur, but the Congress government of State started to suppress the case instead of giving justice." He had invited Rahul and his sister, Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, to Chhattisgarh to fight for justice for the minor. "If you have any sympathy, please come to Chhattisgarh to fight for justice for the daughter of Chhattisgarh too and question Chief Minister @bhupeshbaghel," he had tweeted.
This came as the brother-sister duo made several attempts to visit Hathras, where a 19-year-old girl was assaulted on September 14, before being successful in visiting the family on Saturday.
The victim had succumbed to her injuries on September 29.
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