Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah names minor gangrape victim during rally, visits family later

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday made a faux pau when he named a minor gang-rape victim in an open rally. In a bid to assure the crowd that justice would be served to the family of the gangrape and murder victim, Siddaramaiah repeated the girl's name twice. Soon after the rally, the Chief Minister headed to the deceased girl's home to meet her family.

"This is an inhumane act. I assure you that those who committed this crime will be arrested and punished. I am heading to meet the girl's family after this rally," Siddaramaiah said while addressing the rally in Vijayapura.

He named the victim twice while referring to the case without realising that is was a violation of the POCSO act to reveal the identity of a minor sexual assault victim. The clipping of the Chief Minister's speech was uploaded on all his social networking sites like Facebook and Youtube.

Siddaramaiah was referring to the case of a brutal gangrape and murder of a class 9 student in Vijayapura. The 14-year-old was kidnapped by a gang of men while returning from school with her friend. The gang is said to have sexually assaulted the minor and left her to die. The victim's friend alerted the villagers who went in search of the girl. The victim was found lying unconscious near her school. She died en route the hospital.

This is not the first time that the Chief Minister has committed such a blunder. Earlier this year, his tweet revealing the identity of a minor victim sexually assaulted in a Bengaluru playschool had created a flutter.

OneIndia News