Bengaluru, Mar 17 (IANS): Karnataka's former Director General of Police (DGP) H.T. Sangliana on Friday regretted his comment on Delhi gang-rape victim Nirbhaya's mother. He had said Nirbhaya's mother was a woman with "good physique".

"I'm sorry that my statements have been twisted. I meant that Nirbhaya's (name by which the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim is known) mother looks very smart and good in her physique. Her daughter, Nirbhaya, must have also been a beautiful girl. I think that beautiful people need protection so they don't become victims in the future," Sangliana told the media here.

Sangliana, a member of the ruling Congress in the southern state and a former Lok Sabha member commented on Asha Devi at an event in the city on March 9 where women achievers were honoured.

His statement was meant only as a "compliment" and to highlight the need for protection for women, he asserted, speaking to media on Friday.

"I think people are making an issue out of a non-issue."

The gang-rape of the 23-year-old student Nirbhaya in Delhi on December 16, 2012, by a group of six men, caught international attention after she succumbed to injuries.