A day after Karnataka police arrested five accused in the Mysuru rape case, the state unit of the Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) is said to have issued a gag order prohibiting its leaders from making any statements about the incident.

As reported, the backlash for the insensitive comments by some state cabinet ministers following the event and in reaction to the charges of the opposition leaders is led to BJP asking its leaders to keep mum.

“The party has taken note of the asinine statements made by some ministers, including the Home Minister, not to issue any statement on the Mysuru incident,” said state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel, as quoted.

While Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is also said to have warned his ministers to avoid making statements on such sensitive issues, and is likely to raise the issue with his cabinet in its next meeting.

Mysuru police arrested five of the six accused, all of whom are residents of Sathyamangalam in Tamil Nadu and worked as daily wage labourers in the city. Habitual offenders, the five accused were arrested four days after they raped an MBA student and badly beat up her friend atop a hillock near the foothills of Chamundi- an incident that left the cultural capital and the state in shock. One of the accused is still at bay.

After the incident, comments of various state ministers had evoked even greater anger among the public and the opposition. Although they took back their words later and apologised, some of the ministers were even heard victim shaming, questioning the need for ‘young girls to visit such lonely spots’.

Home Minister Araga Jnanendra had gone to the extent of saying the “opposition was raping the Home Minister“, while Tourism Minister Anand Singh said young lovers or newly weds shouldn’t go to such places as “police cant be deployed at all such spots”.

And even after the CM’s warning, six-time MLA and Minister of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs and Forest Umesh Katti was reported as saying ‘rape and other crimes against women are not uncommon and cannot be helped’. While he said such crimes should not occur, he shirked responsibility, adding that ‘there is nothing anybody can do about them’, as quoted.

The said incident took place on 24 August when the youth in an inebriated condition stopped the youth and assaulted them, asking them for money, on refusing which they took the girl to a secluded spot and raped her. They also beat up her friend who tried to save the girl and demanded 3 lakh rupees after filming the act, as reported.

Senior police officials of the state had rushed to Mysuru, and a special investigative team was formed to probe the incident.

While the girl, a medical student, is said to have been discharged from the hospital on Friday (27 August) and returned to Mumbai, her friend was discharged on Wednesday (25 August).