| schema:text
| - Fact Check: Kirron Kher didn't say rapes cannot be stopped as it's part of our culture
Many on social media claimed that Kirron Kher said rape is part of Indian culture and cannot be stopped. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be misleading.
Listen to Story
India Today Fact Check
Kirron Kher had said rapes are taking place since forever and can only be stopped with a change in mindset.
Crimes against women have dominated the Indian public discourse since the Hathras incident. Amid this, a statement purportedly made by veteran actress Kirron Kher is causing a rage on social media. Users claim the BJP MP from Chandigarh said rape is part of Indian culture and cannot be stopped.
Facebook user "Rajiv Tyagi" wrote, "Rape is part of Indian culture and tradition. We cannot stop it!" and attributed the statement to "Kiron Kher, BJP MP". He also posted a picture of Kher, with text in Hindi superimposed on it, which is the literal translation of what the user wrote.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be misleading. The remark is part of a larger statement the MP made in 2018. It has been taken out of context and twisted. Kher had said rapes have been taking place since forever and can only be stopped with a change in mindset.
The archived versions can be seen here and here.
AFWA probe
When we ran a keyword search, we couldn't find any recent statement on rapes by Kher following the Hathras incident. However, we found multiple reports on a statement she made almost three years back on the subject.
In 2018, reacting to a series of rapes reported from Haryana, Kher had given a long statement where she said a change in mindset can end such incidents.
We found video reports on the statement uploaded by news agency ANI and "The Times of India" on January 22, 2018.
Speaking to the media on the Haryana rape cases, the MP can be heard saying, "Such incidents (rapes) are not new. They have been taking place forever. Only a change in mindset can bring a change. Change in society starts from within a family."
"Our daughters are doing very well in the country and in the world. These incidents (rapes) are happening not just in Haryana, but everywhere else as well. This does not mean what happened was right. It is wrong. Capital punishment is an appropriate punishment for rape. I am hurt by the recent incidents (rapes)," she further said.
We also found several news reports that elaborated Kher's statement (https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/change-of-mindset-can-end-rape-culture-kirron-kher-118012200582_1.html) on the Haryana rapes. No report quoted her as saying rapes cannot be stopped since it's a part of Indian culture.
A similar misleading claim was fact-checked by "Boom Live" (https://www.boomlive.in/kirron-khers-one-year-old-remark-on-rape-revived-with-misleading-context/?infinitescroll=1) in 2019.
Controversy over Kher's rape remarks, 2017
In 2017, Kher was trolled for her statement on a Chandigarh rape case - where a young woman was gang raped by an auto-rickshaw driver and two of his accomplices.
"I want to tell something to all girls. When there are already three men in an auto-rickshaw, you shouldn't take that ride," she had said at a press meet. Politicians and netizens criticized Kher for "victim-blaming" following the statement.
#WATCH BJP MP Kirron Kher says 'she (Chandigarh rape victim) should not have boarded the auto rickshaw when she saw three men sitting in it' (29.11.17) pic.twitter.com/Daqe95rTIO — ANI (@ANI) November 30, 2017
However, the MP then stood by her statement saying she only meant girls should be careful.
Thus, it is clear that Kher never said rapes cannot be stopped because it is part of Indian culture and tradition. She only said rapes have been taking place since forever and can only be stopped with a change in mindset.
Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000
You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)