Television cameras. A large crowd. A public place. People carrying smartphones with easy access to the Internet. People recording his speech on phones. Legal action.
If those factors could not deter a man in power from threatening his opponents with rape, what could stop him from actually carrying out his threat?
Trinamool Congress MP and popular Bengali actor Tapas Pal either thinks people are stupid enough to believe that his vitriolic speech threatening the women of the Opposition party with rape was misunderstood or he is comfortable in his arrogant belief that he can get away with criminal intimidation. He apparently said raid, not rape.
This seems to be a recurring theme with the party. Another Bengali superstar and Trinamool's candidate from the Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency Dev Adhikari had said his busy political campaign and the media focus on it felt like "getting raped".
His exact words were "it's like getting raped yaar, you can shout or you can enjoy".
These are the men who will presumably be helping form policies that will protect women in India and taking steps that will prevent the abuse of their basic rights - including that of physical safety.
We do not know if Pal was indulging in plain bravado or he would actually make good his grim promise. But why are we waiting to find out?
What Pal has said is not only unforgivable and sets back the cause of victims of heinous, cruel and painful sexual crimes many times, but also reinforces the notion that men in power will always get away with vile misogyny.
And they probably will. What action has been taken against Mulayam Singh Yadav for brushing off rapes in Uttar Pradesh with that notorious aside - 'boys make mistakes.' Women are so accustomed to dealing with misogyny of the worst kind from people in politics that Pal's comments come as little shock to many.
The short clip, now being shown on most news channels, in which Pal is seen publicly threatening to send his 'boys' to rape CPI(M) women if their party workers challenged him or his men, is nothing short of criminal intimidation and should be punishable by law.
TMC has asked Pal to give an explanation for his remarks within 48 hours and said the party doesn't endorse his comments. But in the face of his extreme aggression and comments 'I carry a gun on me' and 'I have done enough hooliganism in my life', the party's reaction is tame and underscores the seriousness of the issue.
Imagine an ordinary citizen saying those things to someone in power. Would the government's reaction be as tepid?
Worse, much worse than Pal's horrific threats are attempts by rape apologists - including his wife - to defend his action. Why must his wife Nandini apologize on behalf of her husband who is more than capable of speaking for himself. She asked the media see the provocation behind the comment, a sentiment National Spokesperson and Chief Whip of Trinamool in Rajya Sabha, Derek O'Brien seemed to share.
"Whatever provocation or perceived provocation, people in public life have to be extra-careful in what they say. Can't shoot your mouth off", he tweeted last night. Since then he has said repeatedly neither him or his party endorsed Pal's comments, but that will never be enough.
The most baffling bit about this whole sordid controversy is - why is West Bengal's chief minister, herself a woman, silent about Pal? Shouldn't Mamata Banerjee be 1) first actively, unequivocally condemning Pal and then 2) taking strong action against him?
At the time of writing this, there was no statement from Banerjee, no personal apology to the women her party MP offended and definitely no talk of Pal's suspension from the party, which would be the right thing to do.
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