K R Ramesh Kumar, a Karnataka MLA, apologises for his 'enjoy rape' remark

K R Ramesh Kumar, a senior Congress MLA and former Karnataka Assembly Speaker who sparked outrage by stating "enjoy rape when it is inevitable" inside the Karnataka Assembly, apologised on Friday (December 17, 2021). "If it hurts the sentiments of women, I've no problem apologising. I apologize from the bottom of my heart," on his 'rape' remark made in the Karnataka Assembly yesterday, KR Ramesh Kumar remarked.

"He has apologized, let's not drag it further," says Speaker VH Kageri.

Ramesh Kumar also apologised for his remarks on his Twitter account. "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!" Ramesh Kumar tweeted.

On Thursday, the senior Congress MLA made the statement during a discussion in the Karnataka assembly on rain and flood-related damages. Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, the state speaker, was caught in a bind since he wanted to wrap up the debate as soon as possible, but the MLAs insisted on extending the time.

"I am in a situation where I have to enjoy and say 'yes, yes.' That's it. This is what I feel. I should give up controlling the situation and take the proceedings in a systematic manner, I should tell everyone to continue your talks," Kageri said laughing.

Ramesh Kumar intervened and said, "See, there is a saying- when rape is inevitable, lie down and enjoy it. That's exactly the position in which you are."

For his statement, the former minister was chastised by a number of people, including MLAs from his own party.

Anjali Nimbalkar tweeted, "The House shall apologise to entire womanhood, every mother, sister & daughter of this nation for such an obnoxious & shameless behaviour."

Sowmya Reddy, a Congress MLA, also condemned the statement in a tweet: "This is just NOT ok. There needs to be an apology."

In a tweet, Rekha Sharma, the head of the National Commission for Women, slammed the comments.

Rekha Sharma said, "It is extremely sad and unfortunate that we still have public representative who are misogynists and have horrible mindset towards women. It's really disgusting. If they sit in assemblies and speak like this how they must be behaving with women in their lives?"

Meanwhile, a Delhi-based NGO filed a complaint with the Governor of Karnataka on Friday, requesting that he take legal action against KR Ramesh, a Congress MLA in the Karnataka Assembly, for his "rape" statement.

According to the complaint, the Karnataka Governor should take strict legal action against Ramesh and further disqualify him as a member of the Karnataka Assembly for making an insensitive and offensive remark about women, which is against the Constitution because his comment infringes on women's right to dignity.

Khanapur MLA Anjali Nimbalkar of the Congress party took a firm stance on the issue.