Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has kicked off another storm with his latest remark that “a rape by four people was not practically possible”.
“One person commits a rape and four are named in the complaint. Can such a thing happen? It is impractical. Is that even possible,” Mr. Yadav asked while claiming Uttar Pradesh had the lowest number of rapes.
He was speaking at a function to launch the State government’s free e-rickshaw scheme in Lucknow on Tuesday. The party later said that Mr. Singh was referring to the false implication of several people in rape cases. The controversial remark comes months after he drew criticism for his “boys make mistake” statement.
He alleged that people were “hell-bent on maligning” Uttar Pradesh. “People are hell-bent on giving it negative publicity. Remember, you spread canards about deteriorating law-and-order situation in this State. It is like you tell a lie a hundred times and it becomes the truth,” he paused only to cite the example of the Badaun case to substantiate his argument.
“What happened in the Badaun case? All the big leaders of the country went there. ‘Chalo Badaun’ was the popular refrain then. Finally what happened? The CBI said there was no rape,” he said.
“The population of U.P. is 21 crore and that of Madhya Pradesh is just 6 crore. Still, U.P. has just 2 per cent rapes. While M.P. and Rajasthan, both BJP-ruled States, record more rapes than U.P.”
But the newly released NCRB data belie claims of the SP supremo. Uttar Pradesh registered the highest number of reported gang rapes from any State in 2014. Last year, the State reported 573 cases, accounting for a quarter of all gang rapes recorded in the country. Uttar Pradesh’s problem of sexual violence might be compounded by another one — fear of the police. The State accounted for nearly all custodial rapes in India last year.
“But I am not saying that rapes should happen. Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan are sitting here. They should chalk out a strategy to ensure that no rapes happen in U.P.,” he said while referring to the U.P. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his party colleague, Azam Khan.
