Former SC Judge Markandey Katju, who has been in and out the limelight for controversial reasons because of his statements, has written a post on Facebook condemning the Hathras gang rape. Though he has called for harsh punishment for the culprits, Katju blamed the incident on unemployment and sexual urge.
In his post, he said ‘sexual urge in men should be considered in such cases’. “It is sometimes said that after food, the next requirement is sex. India has a conservative society, and most men get sexually active only through marriage. He added because no girl will marry an unemployed man, and there is a surge in unemployment in the country; men are being deprived of sex”, the former SC judge wrote.
“The population of undivided India before 1947 was about 42 crores. Today India alone has about 135 crore people, which means there has been a fourfold increase in population. But the number of jobs increased is far less than fourfold. In fact, it is believed that in June 2020 alone, 12 crore Indians lost their jobs. Therefore will there not be [an] increase in rapes?” he asked.
According to him, “if we really want to end or reduce rapes we have to create a social and economic system in India in which there is no or little unemployment.” Ignoring that he has indirectly implied that married and employed men do not commit rape, he asserted repeatedly that he is not justifying rapes, rather condemning them.
Outrage on social media
The post was made on Facebook, and its screenshot is being widely shared on other social media platforms. The netizens are outraged over the comment made by someone who held an important post in the Indian Judicial System.
Controversies around Justice Katju
In recent times, former Justice Katju has become the limelight hunter with his controversial statements. He defended Nirav Modi, the bank scam accused, in London court and said he wouldn’t get a fair trial in India. When former Supreme Court CJI Gogoi was nominated for Rajya Sabha, he called him a shameless person and sexual pervert. During the #MeToo movement, he called it a tamasha and said, “#MeToo is just tamasha, will disappear like Anna movement.”