Guwahati: Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Thursday said that a girl from Jorhat district who had posted on Facebook that she was sexually harassed, had done nothing wrong.
He said his government will not stop anyone from posting anything against the government on social media.
“We have simply requested the people to inform such incidents to police also. Police failed to take note of the Facebook posts of the Jorhat girl, and by the time it came to notice, the accused had sufficient time to escape,” Mr Sarma said.
Mr Sarma’s remark came in the wake of a Facebook post by a college girl, narrating her ordeal of sexual harassment last week by motorcycle-borne youth, which sparked protest across the state.
Though director general of police (special) Kula Saikia had rushed to Jorhat soon after the incident came to light on social media last week and met the victim and her family members, the remark of a senior Cabinet minister added fuel to fire.
Parliamentary affairs minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said the girl was an activist of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and ridiculed her for making her ordeal public on social media instead of seeking police help.
A day after the minister’s remark, BJP member of Parliament from Tezpur, R.P. Sharma, also said such incidents should be reported to the police instead of taking it up on social media.
The remark of Mr Patowary and the MP invited angry reaction with many asking for the resignation of the minister.
In an attempt to pacify the people, Mr Sarma Thursday stepped in and clarified that they can’t snatch away the rights of any individual to put forward their grievances on social media.
