'I Was Misquoted', Says Kathua Defence Lawyer on His Sexist Remark Against Woman Cop

New Delhi: Lawyer Ankur Sharma who faced a lot of flak over his remarks on a woman investigator’s “intelligence” and ability to work on the Kathua rape-murder case, denied making the controversial statement and said that he was “misquoted” by this reporter.

News18 on Tuesday published a report on Sharma’s remarks in which he said, “Shwetambri kya hai, ladki hai. Uska kitna hi dimaag hoga (What is Shwetambri, she is a girl, how intelligent can she be?) She is a new officer and by showing her a few circumstantial evidences, some people made her believe that the crime has been committed in this fashion.”

News18 again reached out to the Jammu-based advocate who is representing five of the eight accused in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl to seek clarification on his earlier quote. He not only said that he was not "quoted correctly", but also added that "a non-issue was being turned into an issue".

“I have been misquoted. I was speaking on how to ensure justice for the rape victim. There is difference between men and women but there is a difference between experienced and inexperienced officers. I had no bad intentions. But if there is a group with a woman having one year of experience and four other men having 25 years of experience driving political agenda, then that is bound to influence the lady officer,” said Sharma.

The women police officer, Shwetambri Sharma, too, responded to the sexist slur and told News18 that she was "disheartened" at the remarks.

"By saying such a thing, he has disheartened me. I was from the 2012 batch. Shortly after my graduation, I served in the Kashmri Valley in Anantnag. I dealt with extremists and I have been a police officer for six years. But I don’t want to talk much about that. Our focus should remain on getting justice for the eight-year-old girl who was raped and murdered," said Shwetambri.

Ankur Sharma’s comments followed several reports of the hurdles faced by Shwetambri Sharma, the lone woman officer in the Special Investigative Team (SIT) of the Crime Branch in investigating the Kathua case.

Sharma who investigated the rape and murder of the Bakerwal girl recently spoke on the hurdles she faced while uncovering the gory details of the minor's abduction, rape and subsequent death.

The January incident has stirred the collective consciousness of the nation three months after it happened when the police finally filed its chargesheet detailing the conspiracy and unfolding of the crime.

The eight-year-old went missing on January 10 from near her residence in Rasana village of Hiranagar in Jammu’s Kathua district. After the police failed to recover her amid allegations of kidnapping, which rattled a session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, she was found dead on January 17.