- Saturday, May 04, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
A controversy has erupted in the northern Indian state of Punjab after one of its female lawmakers from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was slapped in public by her husband, triggering a protest.
A video has gone viral of Baljinder Kaur, who represents the constituency of Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda district of Punjab, getting mistreated by her husband Sukhraj Singh, also an AAP leader, at their residence.
Waiting for arrest of AAP MLA husband arrest for assaulting his wife.
And BTW @SwatiJaiHind your state your Lady MLA slapped whom will you blame. BJP ? Or RSS pic.twitter.com/mGlhUc8msq— Heman Namo હિમાંશુ જૈન (@HemanNamo) September 2, 2022
The duo were seen arguing in the presence of a few other people when Singh, who was visibly upset, slapped the legislator. He was then dragged by others. The incident, which happened in July, was caught on a CCTV camera.
While Kaur, a two-time member of the legislative assembly, did not reportedly file a complaint against her husband, the Punjab State Women’s Commission stepped in.
Manisha Gulati, chairperson of the commission, told reporters: “I have seen the video of Baljinder Kaur on social media. We will take a suo motu notice of the incident. It is upsetting that a woman who raises public issues faces harassment at home.”
Kaur got married to Singh, who is the AAP’s youth wing convener for Punjab’s Majha region, in 2019. The former, 35, is also a member of the national executive of the AAP and is in charge of the party’s women wing in the northern state. She taught English at a college before joining politics. She won her first election in the state in 2017.
The opposition parties slammed the incident and sought action.
Former Indian central minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Akali Dal said in a tweet, “Totally condemn the despicable violence by husband of T.Sabo MLA Baljinder Kaur. We must call out such weaklings who feel superior using violence on women. Baljinder’s husband must issue a public apology and mend his ways or strict action as per law should be taken against him.”
Totally condemn the despicable violence by husband of T.Sabo MLA Baljinder Kaur. We must call out such weaklings who feel superior using violence on women. Baljinder’s husband must issue a public apology & mend his ways or strict action as per law should be taken against him.
— Harsimrat Kaur Badal (@HarsimratBadal_) September 2, 2022
Brinder Singh Dhillon, president, Punjab Youth Congress tweeted saying that “empowering women is not a deterrent to stop violence against women”.
“Shocking to see @BaljinderKaur_MLA getting slapped in broad day light.Mindset of men has to change. The problem lies in the perpetrator’s of these acts.Change this male chauvinism attitude more then anything else,” he added.
Empowering women is not a deterrent to stop violence against women.Shocking to see @BaljinderKaur_ MLA getting slapped in broad day light.Mindset of men has to change.
The problem lies in the perpetrator’s of these acts.Change this male chauvinism attitude more then anything else pic.twitter.com/Qxm6rhrtht— Brinder (@brinderdhillon) September 1, 2022
