A political storm erupted on Wednesday after Uttar Pradesh minister and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar made a remark widely condemned as cruel and dehumanising in connection with the Unnao rape survivor’s protest in Delhi.
पत्रकारों ने पूछा कि पुलिस बलात्कार पीड़िता और उनके साथ वालों को इंडिया गेट से उठा ले गई।
— Govind Pratap Singh | GPS (@govindprataps12) December 24, 2025
इसपर BJP के सहयोगी दल के नेता ओपी राजभर ने कहा- घर तो उनका उन्नाव में है.
इसके बाद राजभर जो कुटिल मुस्कान के साथ हंसे हैं- वो बेशर्मी भरा है और पत्रकार भी कुंभकर्ण जैसे अट्टहास करने लगे pic.twitter.com/P4icaRdN54
When reporters questioned why Delhi Police forcibly removed the survivor and her supporters from the India Gate lawns, Rajbhar responded by stating that her home was in Unnao—and then laughed. The brief comment, caught on camera, quickly spread across social media, sparking outrage and accusations of insensitivity towards a woman who has already endured years of trauma.
The backlash was swift and fierce. Social media users slammed the minister for what they called open mockery of a survivor’s pain. One user wrote that Rajbhar’s conduct reduced a daughter’s rape to a joke and questioned whether such leaders deserved to hold public office at all. Many demanded an apology and accountability, saying the remark reflected a deeper rot in political attitudes towards crimes against women.
The controversy comes amid renewed anguish for the survivor, who has been protesting against a recent Delhi High Court order granting bail to former BJP legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 rape case. On Tuesday, she and her mother were removed from the protest site by police, an episode that left her emotionally shattered.
Later that evening, the survivor spoke of her despair, revealing that she briefly felt driven to thoughts of ending her life. She said only thoughts of her family stopped her from taking such a step. Describing the court’s decision as “kaal” (death) for her family, she announced her intention to approach the Supreme Court for relief.
The Delhi High Court had earlier suspended Sengar’s life sentence and granted him bail while his appeal against the 2019 conviction remains pending. The decision has reignited public debate on justice for survivors and the role of political leaders in shaping empathy—or indifference—towards victims of sexual violence.
