Jaitley terms Dec 16 rape 'small incident that affected tourism', sparks controversy

New Delhi, Aug 22: Finance Minister

is in the midst of a controversy after he termed the December 16 gangrape case as a 'small rape incident that affected

in the country.'

It all began when Jaitley said the December 16 gangarape case had cost Indian tourism millions of dollars. Jaitley said: "One incident of rape in Delhi was enough to cost millions of dollars in terms of lower number of tourists.

We have a national responsilibity and God has given us everything which the tourists want to see. We just have to catalayse that process and make sure we take the right step."

Jaitley later apologised and said his speech was misconstrued

Jaitley's statement was criticised by many who said that he made an insensitive remark. Congress leader Shobha Oza said: "It is idiotic and a horrendous statement. He (Jaitley) must apologise to the women of the nation."

Hours after he faced flak for his comments, Jaitley said that he regrets that his speech was misconstrued. "I have always been sensitive towards violence against women," he said.

Meanwhile, Nirbhaya's father said that he was disappointed with Jaitley's remarks and said that his statement will boost the morale of rapists. "He is seeing tourism, an honest citizen lost her life. Isn't that loss to the nation," he added.

OneIndia News