Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Phool Singh Baraiya has sparked a major controversy after linking beauty to rape and claiming that sexual crimes against women from “certain castes” were encouraged by some religious scriptures that allegedly describe such acts as “teerth phal” or “fruit of pilgrimage”.
Baraiya’s remarks surfaced on Saturday, coinciding with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Indore in connection with the city’s water contamination tragedy, and drew sharp condemnation from the ruling BJP.
The Bhander MLA from Datia made the statements during an interview with a media outlet, and a video clip of his comments quickly went viral on social media.
In the video, Baraiya is seen asserting that the highest number of rapes in India are committed against women belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
“So what I mean is the theory of rape is that if a man is walking on the road and sees a beautiful girl, extremely beautiful, his mind may get distracted. Then rape can happen,” he said, while going on to question what “extremely beautiful” women existed among tribals, Dalits and OBCs.
Baraiya, a former Bahujan Samaj Party MP, further claimed that rapes against women from these communities occur because “such instructions are given in their (Hindu) religious scriptures”.
However, when asked by a reporter to specify the religious scripture he was referring to, Baraiya failed to provide a clear answer.
He nevertheless went on to interpret a Sanskrit verse, which he claimed stated that having intercourse with women of “certain castes” results in “teerth phal” or “fruit of pilgrimage”.
“Now if he cannot go on a pilgrimage, what option was given while sitting at home? That by having intercourse with their women, one gets that fruit? Then what will he do? In darkness, he will try to catch someone. One person can never rape a woman. If she does not consent, he will not do it,” Baraiya said.
Reacting strongly, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav accused Baraiya of spreading social hatred at a time when Rahul Gandhi is visiting Indore.
“I hope Rahul Gandhi expels him from the party so that it will appear that he (Gandhi) has respect for other sections of society. I condemn this statement. Baraiya is an MLA, so he has a responsibility to avoid such remarks,” Yadav said.
BJP’s Madhya Pradesh media in-charge Ashish Usha Agrawal shared the purported video on X and demanded Baraiya’s expulsion from the Congress.
He said weighing women on a “scale of beauty” and describing the heinous crime of rape against SC-ST women as “teerth phal” amounted to an admission of a criminal mindset.
“Shame! This is a direct attack on women, Dalits and humanity. Today, when Rahul Gandhi is coming to Madhya Pradesh, the country wants to know whether this is the real thinking of the Congress. Is this the hypocrisy of ‘save the Constitution’?” Agrawal said in his X post.
He also said that MP Congress president Jitu Patwari and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Umang Singhar had no right to remain silent on the issue.
“Either there should be an immediate apology and expulsion or accept that the Congress stands with an anti-women and anti-Dalit mindset,” Agrawal added.