Giving a twist to the daylight murder of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Purnea Raj Kishore Keshari, Union information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni has drawn attention to the plight of the alleged killer, Rupam Pathak.
Soni, the most senior woman leader in the Congress after Sonia Gandhi and the highest ranking woman in the Union cabinet, pointed out that while she did not support aggrieved people taking the law into their own hands, the plight of the attacker also needed to be considered.
"I heard the lady on TV. No one was listening to her. No one was filing the FIR," Soni said on the sidelines of a Prasar Bharti event in the capital.
"After all, if a woman is being harassed, is exploited — as she alleged — what she did in her desperation was wrong... but if a woman is harassed like that and an FIR is not allowed to be filed, that is also wrong," Soni said in comments that may draw the ire of the BJP.
Keshari was stabbed in his house by Pathak, a schoolteacher who had accused the MLA of raping her in May.
Keshari, 51, a four-time MLA, was meeting visitors from his constituency at his Sipahi Tola residence when Pathak stabbed him. The MLA was wounded fatally in the spleen, director general of police Neelmani said.
Visitors caught the 45-year-old woman, beat her up and handed her over to the police.
The police admitted Pathak, who had lodged a sexual harassment case six months ago against the MLA, to a government hospital. Her condition was reported to be stable.
Soni also expressed her helplessness at controlling what the government feels are 'adult' shows airing on prime-time TV.
Soni's ministry had sent notices to channels regarding several programmes, including Rakhi Ka Swayamwar and Bigg Boss, asking for them to be shifted to non-prime-time slots, but the channels obtained stay orders from the courts.
"In the end, the courts have instead pulled us up. They have lifted
the ban or granted stay," she said, pointing out that the issue cannot be left to the courts to decide.
"We are hoping that a mechanism for self-regulation is ready very soon for TV channels," Soni said.
"The mechanism will have bodies like the National Commission of Women, Minorities Commission, National Commission of Scheduled Castes, etc," she said, referring to a controversial and much-delayed plan to introduce a national broadcasting regulator on the lines of the telecom regulator but with primary participation from the industry.
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