“It happens everywhere”

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh  stoked a controversy with his latest remarks on the sensational ‘Gurdiya rape-murder case’.

The Congress Chief Minister allegedly termed the 16-year-old’s rape-murder a ‘common happening’ and said such incidents happen everywhere.

“Gudiya rape-murder is a normal and small incident but has been blown out of proportion. Name one state or country where murders don’t take place,” the CM was quoted as saying.

However, this was not the first such remark by the Chief Minister on the Kotkhai rape-murder case.

In July, the Chief Minister came under sharp criticism for a similar remark where he stated ‘such incidents keep on happening in a society’.

On July 4, a 16-year-old girl was offered a lift in a vehicle by the accused when she was returning home from school. On the way, the accused raped and murdered her at a nearby forest. Her naked body was found in isolated woods in Kotkhai tehsil’s Halaila village on July 13.