Goa MP clarifies his remarks on Russian girl's rape

New Delhi: After he made some shocking remarks on the alleged rape of a Russian woman in Goa, which evoked a lot of protest from the Opposition, especially women members in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Congress MP Shantaram Naik has clarified and said that he was misunderstood.

“Don't misunderstand me like others. What I'm saying is that investigation in two types of rape should be done in a different angle. For instance when a rape is alleged on a male person who has been moving with a lady quite some times and if there is some tiff or fight between them and then there is an allegation then police machinery should investigate it very cautiously,” said Naik.

Meanwhile, Counsel for Russian government in Goa and lawyer of Russian rape victim, Vikram Verma told CNN-IBN, "The way investigation has been done is disappointing. Russian tourists will follow guidelines provided by the Government of India. Crime solving rate in Goa is disappointing. Where is the intention to solve the crime? My client was made to sit on bench for 3 hours."

Naik had blamed electronic media for highlighting an alleged rape case in the state and had also said that if a woman moves with strangers in the late hours, the case should be treated differently.

He said while rape is the most heinous crime, "an alleged rape of a lady who moves with strangers for days together even beyond middle of the night is to be treated on different footings."

Naik's comments evoked strong protests by Opposition members particularly Brinda Karat (CPI-M), Najma Heptulla, Maya Singh (BJP) and Jaya Bachchan (SP).

They sought intervention of the Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan saying Naik should not be allowed to speak the language which, they said, was derogatory to women.

BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, “Tourists come in for fun and frolic. The public representatives should not comment on foreigner issues. It reflects the poor law & order situation in the state.”

BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad was on his feet stating Naik was "justifying" rape.

Khan asked the Goa MP to submit his Zero Hour text for examination and said the member was going beyond the subject he wanted to raise.

Blaming the electronic media, Naik had said, "If we go by electronic media coverage of recent times..., it appears that nothing happens except incidents of rape."

Naik was forced to clarify his statement a few hours later on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Russian woman had alleged that a local politician, John Fernandes, had raped her after spiking her drinking in a moving car on December 1.