Karnataka State Women Development Corporation (KSWDC) chairperson Bharathi Shankar on Friday claimed women were raped at "unwanted parties, but not at jatres (melas, or fairs)".
She was speaking at a panel discussion on women's safety during the launch of A Billion Eyes — a campaign by B.Pac and the Bengaluru City Police.
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This is hardly the first time a woman's welfare organisation has cited such reasons for sexual harassment of women.
The KSWDC had a few years ago called for a ban on mobile phones as it believed they lead to sexual violence against women.
Shankar's take on woman safety
Shankar's observation on Friday was in response to a question by journalists on whether women's empowerment was equal to women's safety.
"When women go to jatre, do they get raped? They do get raped at unwanted parties," said Shankar while listing safety measures for women.
However, this was not the end of Shankar's observations. She also compared women's safety issues to garbage segregation, according to a Times of India report.
Shankar said people should not blame the government for problems in society but should take personal measures in order to stay safe.
"About garbage problem, as a citizen I should segregate waste first. If I don't do it and keep blaming the department or corporator, what's the use?" Shankar said while justifying her point.
Shankar's organisation is a Government of Karnataka undertaking that aims at promoting schemes for sustained income-generating activities among women's groups.
Shankar, who had once headed the Congress women's wing of Bengaluru, participated in the launching of the A Billion Eyes campaign that encourages bystander intervention to make Bengaluru safer.
'Ban mobile phones to stop rapes'
The KSWDC had in 2014 said in the state Assembly that mobile phones should be banned as they lead to sexual violence against women.
"There were several instances where mobile phones were used to lure girls to remote places and rape them. Mobile phones are debasing the educational atmosphere in schools and colleges," a report tabled by lawmakers had said.
