MP Congress MLA links women's beauty to rape, later says 'I don't agree with it'

Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Phool Singh Baraiya triggered a controversy after allegedly linking women’s beauty to rape and associating sexual crimes against women from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with what he described as “teerth phal” (rewards of pilgrimage).

Baraiya’s statements came to the fore on Saturday, when Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi was in Indore in connection with the water contamination tragedy there. However, after MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav condemned the remarks, expressing hope that Gandhi would take action against him, Baraiya did a U-turn by attributing what he had said to a Bihar philosopher, reported PTI.

What the Cong MLA said

In a video, the embattled MLA said he quoted Harimohan Jha, head of the department of philosophy in Bihar. "I had quoted his statement in a certain context. I myself don't agree with it. But I cited it by taking its reference," he said in the video message.

The Congress MLA from Bhander, Datia district, had made the controversial remarks during an interview with a media outlet, and a video of it soon went viral on social media. In the video, Baraiya purportedly claims that the highest number of rapes in India are against women from SC, ST, and “Most Backward Classes”.

Baraiya, a former MP Bahujan Samaj Party chief, further said that rapes against women from these communities take place because “such instructions are given in their (Hindu) religious scriptures”.

However, when a reporter asked him to point out the religious scripture which mentioned this, Baraiya could not give a clear answer. Baraiya, though, went on to interpret a Sanskrit verse, which he said laid down that having physical relations with women of “certain castes” yields “teerth phal” or “rewards of pilgrimage”. “Now, if he cannot go on a pilgrimage, what option was given while sitting at home? That by having intercourse with their women, one gets that fruit? Then what will he do? In the darkness, he will try to catch someone. One person can never rape a woman. If she does not consent, he will not do it,” Baraiya claimed.

What CM Yadav said?

CM Yadav expressed hopes that Rahul Gandhi would expel Baraiya.

“I hope Rahul Gandhi expels him from the party so it appears that he (Gandhi) has respect for other sections of society. I condemn this statement. Baraiya is an MLA, so he has a responsibility to avoid such remarks,” Yadav said.

BJP’s Madhya Pradesh media in-charge Ashish Usha Agrawal shared the purported video on X and demanded Baraiya’s expulsion from the Congress. He said weighing women on a “scale of beauty” and describing the heinous crime of rape against SC-ST women as “teerth phal” amounted to an admission of a criminal mindset. He said, “Shame! This is misogyny, anti-Dalit sentiment, and a direct attack on humanity.”

Before the video message expressing remorse, Baraiya had put up a brave front saying he stood by his comment. The MLA had claimed it was in the interest of 40 crore women from the SC and ST communities, adding that his statement had nothing to do with the Congress or Rahul Gandhi.

Speaking to reporters, the Bhander MLA sought to justify his controversial remark by citing the verse “Chandali tu swayam Kashi” (Chandali girl is Kashi herself), which he claimed is mentioned in “Rudrayamal Tantra”. When women from SC and ST communities are raped, and even two-year-old girls are raped, “should I just sit quietly?” he asked.

(with inputs from agencies)