'Nirbhaya case' first instance of Indian men being vocal on women's safety: Smriti Irani

Hyderabad: “Nirbhaya case” is the first instance in India wherein men came out openly and raised their voice for women’s safety, Union Minister Smriti Irani said on Thursday.

“I think one of the turning points in our country where men were very expressive about how they felt about the issues with regards to women’s safety.”

“If you remember when the Nirbhaya gangrape took place men were out at the India Gate lawns with their daughters, wives, with their sisters or their colleagues equally angry about the situation with regards to law and order,” she said.

She was speaking at an interactive session of CII- Indian Women Network”s (IWN) conclave, titled “Power Women 2020.”

On December 16, 2012, a 23-year-old Delhi woman was raped by six men in a moving bus and died in a Singapore hospital a fortnight later.

More than seven years later, four of the six men were executed in what came to be known as the Nirbhaya case.

“That was the first ever public demonstration of how an Indian man feels about the issues of safety for women. There was never before a public expression like this on the streets of India like in the Nirbhaya case,” the union minister for women and child welfare said.

Replying to a query, Irani said there is no specific recipe or a template for one to achieve success in life.

According to the minister, there are people with the best of infrastructure foundation for success, yet they failed and there have beenpeople who were not in the race at all, but emerged successful.

“So we should not in any way advocate that there is a template within which if you fit in you will succeed and you”ll become a leader. That never happens,” she explained.