Madhya Pradesh Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya sparked outrage with his remarks blaming Australian women cricketers for a molestation incident that occurred in Indore last week. The Urban Development and Housing Minister suggested that the players’ decision to leave their hotel without informing anyone contributed to the unfortunate event.
“𝑨 𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒕,” 𝑽𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒚𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑵𝑫𝑻𝑽.“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 — 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅.”
The comments came after two Australian players were allegedly harassed by a motorcyclist in Indore while walking to a café on Thursday morning — a day after their victory against England in the ICC Women’s World Cup. Cricket Australia confirmed the incident, adding that it had been reported to the police, who arrested the accused within six hours.
“Other Cricketers Will Also Learn a Lesson,” Says Vijayvargiya
Rajesh Dandotiya, Additional DCP (Indore Crime Branch), identified the accused as Aqeel, who had a prior criminal record. He was apprehended after an extensive search operation. The BCCI, through secretary Devajit Saikia, strongly condemned the incident and stated that safety measures would be reviewed if required.
The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) also expressed deep regret and issued an apology to the Australian team for the distressing episode.
Vijayvargiya, however, maintained that the situation should serve as a learning experience for visiting athletes.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑶𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏 — 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍-𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈.”
Australia, which finished on top of the Women’s World Cup league stage, has continued its campaign despite the unsettling episode. The Meg Lanning-led side will face India in the semi-final on October 30 in Navi Mumbai, while South Africa will take on England in Guwahati in the other semi-final.
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