Last week, an incident involving two female Australian cricketers in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India, made international headlines and sparked widespread outrage. The players were reportedly "touched inappropriately" by a man while walking to a café, an act that led to the immediate arrest of the accused. While the incident itself triggered swift condemnation from India’s cricket authorities and the global sporting community, comments made afterward by an Indian state minister ignited a fresh controversy, with many accusing him of victim blaming.
The harassment occurred on a Thursday morning, just a day after the Australian women's cricket team had secured a significant victory against England in the ongoing Women’s World Cup. According to a statement by Cricket Australia, the players were approached and subjected to inappropriate physical contact by a man riding a motorbike. The incident quickly caught public attention, not only because it involved international sportswomen visiting India but also due to the broader issue it highlighted—the persistent problem of street harassment against women in the country.
India’s Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reacted promptly by condemning the incident. The board described the harassment as “a deeply regrettable and isolated incident” and expressed a commitment to revising and strengthening security protocols to prevent any recurrence. Such a firm stance was echoed by cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar, who called for stringent punishment for the perpetrator. Speaking to India Today TV, Gavaskar said, “You lock him up and throw the keys away. That’s the only way such criminals should be treated.” This reflected a widespread demand for justice and enhanced protection for women, especially high-profile visitors.
However, amidst the calls for accountability and solidarity with the victims, Kailash Vijayvargiya, a prominent state minister in Madhya Pradesh, made remarks that shifted some responsibility onto the players themselves. Vijayvargiya, who oversees urban development, housing, and parliamentary affairs in the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, suggested that the players should have informed authorities or their security personnel before stepping out of their hotel. He framed this not only as a lesson for the players but also for the authorities, implying that preventive measures could have averted the incident.
Speaking to reporters, Vijayvargiya said, “Whenever a player steps out, just like when we step out, we tell a local. The players will also realise that in the future, if we step out, then we should tell the security or local administration.” He further added that players needed to be cautious due to their immense popularity, drawing a comparison to football players in England who sometimes face aggressive fans. “There’s a craze for cricket here, like there is for football in England. I have seen football players having their clothes torn… So sometimes players don’t realise their own popularity. Players are very popular, so they must take care whenever they step out,” he explained.
These comments sparked immediate backlash across India. Critics accused Vijayvargiya of victim blaming—a harmful attitude that shifts blame from perpetrators to victims and discourages victims from seeking justice. Opposition politicians, media outlets, and social media users sharply criticized the minister’s remarks. Arun Yadav, a leader from the opposition Congress party, described Vijayvargiya’s statements as “disgusting and regressive.” Public figures, including singer Chinmayi Sripaada, took to social media to express their dismay. Sripaada accused the minister of placing the onus on women to ensure their own safety rather than holding perpetrators accountable. On her social media platform X (formerly Twitter), she wrote, “BJP Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya basically says here that women visiting another city/country must be worried/concerned/think about their own safety when stepping out without telling anyone. So basically it was the women’s fault.”
Many others echoed these sentiments, pointing out that such victim blaming comments further tarnished India’s already damaged international reputation following the incident. One user commented, “At a time when India’s image has already taken a hit due to this shameful incident, such victim-blaming comments from a public representative only deepen the embarrassment.” Another user lamented that instead of defending the city’s dignity and condemning the perpetrator, the minister chose to lecture the victims, describing his response as “tone-deaf and unbecoming of his office.”
In response to the backlash, Vijayvargiya later called the incident “shameful” and confirmed that strict action had been