NEW DELHI: Union minister Babul Supriyo ’s tweeted defence of Vikas Barala , an accused in the Chandigarh attempted abduction case, has been slammed by women’s rights activists and lawyers as misogynistic and regressive.

On Tuesday, Supriyo, who is junior minister for heavy industries, began a tweet thread suggesting that boy-chasing-girl is similar to what happens in Bollywood films.

Chandigarh resident Varnika Kundu , a DJ and daughter of an IAS officer, accused Vikas Barala and his friend Ashish Kumar of chasing her through the streets of the city with the intention of kidnapping her. Barala is the son of senior BJP leader Subhash Barala. Supriyo’s first tweet read: “Guys, think rationally? A guy chases a girl — he’s drunk! Deplorable? But why charge him with ‘Abduction’ etc without investigation?”

He then tweeted, “Why drag his father into it? Just cause a Neta’s son’s mischief make better headlines? ‘Desh ki Beti ko insaaf chahiye?’ etc etc! Why?”, followed by, “If investigations reveal the guy guilty of non-bailable offences, law exists & it will prevail but taint the men in uniforms prematurely?” Then, “why aren’t the same justice seekers raising voices for the youngster hacked to death in Kerala or the 61-year-old woman raped & killed in WB too?” He continued: “Now that I have u guys with your teeth & nails out, I request u 2 visit WB with me to fight against police atrocity and get justice for the old woman? Anyone?”

He wasn’t done yet: “Like it’s not at all that I am supporting such act but we all went 2 collge &knw, like Reel ‘Boy chase Girl’ exists in Real Life2. Agree?” He later deleted the tweet but not before it had caught the attention of the Twitterati.

Supreme Court lawyer and women’s rights activist Kirti Singh described Supriyo’s tweets as shameful and misogynistic. “It is a view that you don’t expect anyone, particularly someone in a position of authority, to voice. Stalking is not a matter of fun. It is a very serious offence that results in trauma and injury to the victim. I am totally flabbergasted and surprised that anyone should undermine the seriousness of a criminal offence. This is despite the fact that there have been serious consequences on women, like acid attacks and murders,” she said. AIPWA secretary Kavita Krishnan tweeted “...it’s criminal act of stalking and threatens safety, life of the woman.”

