After Outrage Over 'Wife Never Harassed Due to Wearing Saree' Remark, Goa Minister Says He Was 'Misquoted'

Goa minister Deepak Dhavalikar, who said that his wife was never sexually harassed "because she wore and kumkum all her life," today said the media had misquoted him.

"It is not like that. In India everyone is free to wear what they want," said the 57-year-old minister.

"My comments have been misquoted by the media. It was not intended to hurt any religion. You cannot join rape with education. They (media) have mixed it just to spoil our image," said Mr Dhavalikar.

Mr Dhavalikar attracted controversy after he defended his wife Lata's remarks in which she allegedly attributed the rise in incidents of rape to the western culture.

Mrs Dhavalikar, while speaking at a programme organized by a Hindu hard line group on Sunday, had reportedly said, "Incidents of rape are on the rise, largely owing to the fact that women have adopted western culture." She reportedly also advised people to avoid convent schools in favour of those that teach Indian culture.

Mr Dhavalikar belongs to the regional Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, which is a part of the BJP-led coalition government in Goa.

The Goa Congress saw this as an opportunity to score a political goal. "People might think it is bizarre and immature, but if think of it politically it is a systematic game plan of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party to eat into BJP votes at the cost of Goa and goans," said Durgadas Kamat of the Congress.

Mr Dhavalikar's comments have also been criticised by well-known fashion designer Wendell Rodricks, who is a native of Goa.

He told NDTV that the minister is out of touch with history and should be ignored. "These people are in the minority and we need to ignore them completely. I mean the Saree is Indian but the way it is draped today comes from the daughter of the general of Alexandar who gave his daughter in marriage to Chandragupta Maurya," said Mr Rodricks.