“It would have been better if he had spoken about our struggle than making a personal remark. It shows that people’s mentalities in our society has not changed,” Asha Devi told ANI . (Express file photo by Prem Nath Pandey) “It would have been better if he had spoken about our struggle than making a personal remark. It shows that people’s mentalities in our society has not changed,” Asha Devi told ANI . (Express file photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

Asha Devi, the mother of the December 2012 gangrape victim, on Friday condemned the ‘good physique’ remark made by HT Sangliana and said it would have been better had the former Director General of Karnataka Police spoken about their struggle rather than making a personal remark.

“It would have been better if he had spoken about our struggle than making a personal remark. It shows that people’s mentalities in our society has not changed,” Asha Devi told ANI.

At an event organised in Bengaluru on the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8, Sangliana had reportedly said Devi has “such a good physique” and he “can just imagine how beautiful Nirbhaya would have been”, referring to the gangrape victim by the name the Indian media gave her.

However, on Friday, the former senior police officer stood by his remarks and said he had only intended to “emphasise the importance of protection and security for women”.

“I consider my statement to be totally within the limit and I feel people are making an issue out of a non-issue. I said it in order to emphasise the importance of protection and security to women, they should be given protection at all times,” Sangliana told ANI.

I consider my statement to be totally within the limit and I feel people are making an issue out of a non-issue: HT Sangliana, former Karnataka DGP on his states that 2012 Delhi rape victim’s mother had ‘good physique’ pic.twitter.com/As6SqNR3jP — ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2018

The 23-year-old paramedic student was gangraped on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a moving bus in South Delhi by a gang of six persons and severely assaulted before being thrown out naked. She succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

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