‘Not A Single Person In The Country Who Isn’t Outraged’: Jaishankar On RG Kar Rape-Murder

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday condemned violence against women while responding to the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata, stating that there is not a single person in the country who is not outraged by the incident.

“I don’t think there is a single person in the country who isn’t outraged by what happened. You can see that on the streets. The fact is, women’s safety and crime against women are serious issues in our country, and they might be issues in other countries as well,” Jaishankar said in Geneva.

He added, “I’m reminded of something Prime Minister Modi once said from the Red Fort. He said all of us we say things to our daughters when they go out late at night, but do we do the same with our sons?… Ensuring the safety and security of women is a big issue. I don’t want to go anything political on the issue outside the country.”

Jaishankar made these comments while addressing the Indian diaspora in Geneva. He arrived in Switzerland on Thursday, concluding his three-nation tour, which also included visits to Germany and Saudi Arabia.

On Thursday, Jaishankar met with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to discuss India’s collaboration with the global health organisation.

The foreign minister had shared photos of his meeting with the WHO chief on his X account. “Discussed our cooperation in WHO including on traditional medicine and public health,” he wrote in his post.

Additionally, Jaishankar had met with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on the same day, where he shared India’s views on the global human rights situation and discussed effective ways to address these challenges.